Father killed teaching teen daughter to drive in Laguna Beach on Memorial Day ID'd
The name of a local man who died during a Memorial Day driving lesson with his 15-year-old daughter after their vehicle plummeted down an embankment onto Coast Highway below, was released by a law enforcement official Tuesday.
Laguna Beach police spokesperson Lt. Jesse Schmidt said 64-year-old James Politoski was teaching the teen, who was practicing driving with a learner's permit, in the parking lot of the Aliso Creek Plaza Shopping Center at around 2:30 p.m. Monday.
'Preliminarily, we suspect it was a father-daughter driving lesson, and he was teaching her the rules of the road,' Schmidt said Tuesday.
Police and fire personnel were called to a stretch of Coast Highway between Wesley and Montage Resort drives by a 911 call placed at 2:43 p.m.
The vehicle, a Volkswagen Type-1 (Beetle) convertible, apparently became out of the driver's control during the lesson and crashed through a fence barrier, careened down a roughly 40-foot embankment and landed upside down on the highway below.
The top of the convertible was reportedly closed at the time of the incident, police report, and the Beetle hit a parked car before stopping, causing light damage to that vehicle.
Politoski was pronounced dead at the scene, according to a news release. The driver, whose name is not being released to the public because she is a minor, was transported to Mission Hospital in Mission Viejo with significant injuries and, as of Tuesday morning, was listed in stable condition, according to Schmidt.
Preliminary investigation points to the possibility that the teen may have confused the pedals during the driving lesson, Schmidt said Tuesday.
'It appears to be a gas-brake pedal confusion sort of incident,' the spokesman said. 'It's just tragic, especially on Memorial Day. Our condolences go out to the family and friends affected by this.'
Pacific Coast Highway was closed in both directions for roughly three hours to accommodate paramedics and the subsequent investigation before fully reopening to traffic, according to Schmidt.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Miami Herald
2 hours ago
- Miami Herald
Man who died after Fort Lauderdale boat explosion operated the vessel, FWC says
A father of four died from his injuries after a boat he was driving exploded off Fort Lauderdale on Memorial Day, the man's loved ones announced in a GoFundMe fundraiser. Joshua Fifi, a 29-year-old who lived Fort Lauderdale, was identified as the man who died after the blast, according to the fundraiser page. The fundraiser, organized by Hannah Galindo, said Fifi's 'sudden passing has left his family, friends, and community in shock and grief.' The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, the state police agency investigating the incident, released a statement Monday night saying Fifi was the operator of the 39-foot Sea Ray cabin cruiser. He was driving the vessel north in the Intracoastal Waterway shortly after refueling around 5:45 p.m. when he tried starting the port, or left side, inboard engine and the boat exploded, according to the FWC statement. Fifi was one of the 14 people on board the vessel, which was near the large sandbar by the New River when the flash explosion occurred. Eleven people — including two young children — were hospitalized with injuries. Some were taken to Jackson Memorial Hospital's burn unit in Miami, Fort Lauderdale Fire Rescue said. 'Our thoughts are with the friends and family of Mr. Fifi during this difficult time,' the FWC said in its statement. READ MORE: Boat explodes off the beach in Fort Lauderdale, fire-rescue says Fire officials say the blast was likely caused by fuel vapors that ignited a flash fire when the boat was started. The source of the vapors and ignition is under investigation. Fifi's family hopes to raise $11,000 to cover Fifi's funeral and support his four children. 'Joshua was just beginning a new chapter in life,' the page said. 'He was known for his sense of humor, his easygoing spirit, and the way he could make people laugh even on the hardest days. He was someone people could count on, and now, we're coming together to support him one last time.' READ MORE: Two boats exploded off Fort Lauderdale within 5 months. Tips to avoid a similar fate
Yahoo
6 hours ago
- Yahoo
This is what it's like on Martha's Vineyard after ICE raids
Last week, Martha's Vineyard was coming off Memorial Day weekend, gearing up for another busy summer season. Then, on Tuesday, May 27, more than a dozen federal officers came to the Island to arrest accused undocumented immigrants, sparking an undercurrent of alarm in the large Brazilian immigrant population that calls the Vineyard home. After the arrest of about 40 people between the Vineyard and Nantucket by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), several Island immigrants said members of their community are full of fear, and, whether they have the proper documentation or not, some are opting to stay home instead of going to work and school. 'On Tuesday, when this started, people went home,' said Vilmar Rodrigues, a Brazilian immigrant who now works as a tax preparer in Vineyard Haven. 'On Wednesday, nobody went into the streets.' Eateries closed, appointments were cancelled, Brazilian churches decided to forgo services and people hid out on farms. 'Even the people who are documented here, with a green card, are very scared,' Rodrigues, who previously worked as an attorney in Sao Paulo, said. For Pastor Ricardo Duarte, who wants to try and comfort his congregation, the situation has been especially frustrating. Duarte is the head of the Lagoinha Church in Vineyard Haven. With immigrants worried about leaving their homes, he cancelled church services during the week. 'You want to help people spiritually, but we don't want to put people at risk,' he said. 'It's sad in that way. The time that the people need the help the most, you can't provide because they don't want to come out.' Duarte questioned some of the constitutionality of ICE's arrests across the country, pointing to instances where courts have said that the federal government has improperly deported people. In the past, ICE agents have seemed to come to the Island with a target in mind, arresting someone who is wanted for crimes. Duarte said he and several others saw last week's arrests as a shift in tactics, where federal agents pulled over work vans and questioned drivers about their immigration status. 'The way ICE is operating is bringing terror and panic to everyone,' he said. While some have wondered if the Vineyard — a favored vacation destination for many high-ranking Democrats — was targeted for political reasons, President Donald Trump's border czar, Tom Homan, denied the theory when talking to reporters at the White House last Thursday. 'Martha's Vineyard isn't off the table, it's part of the country,' he said. 'We are doing immigration enforcement actions all throughout the country. We are not saying we're going to favor one area over another. We're all over the country, in every neighborhood, in every city.' Homan also said that Homeland Security plans to ramp up immigration enforcement, as well, with an eye on job sites across the country. 'You're going to see more teams on the street than you've ever seen before; you're going to see more work site enforcement than you've ever seen in the history of this nation,' he said. ICE has not released a list of the people arrested on the Vineyard, though it said many of the people taken into custody had criminal records, including a man they say had been charged with child rape. Rodrigues and Duarte said they each knew of someone who was taken into custody. Both declined to give the names of the individuals, but Rodrigues said most of the detainees were taken to a detention center in Plymouth. The climate of concern can be especially hard on the children of immigrants, even if they were born in the country and are American citizens, said Paula Reidbord, a Brazilian immigrant who moved to the U.S. more than 30 years ago and now works at MV Mediation. The Island schools have many children of immigrants — about 30% of public school students speak Portuguese at home. Reidbord has heard from parents who say their children are worried about their parents being taken. 'To have this kind of fear for no justifiable reason is upsetting,' she said. Worries about immigrants' safety also prompted MV Mediation to postpone Brazil Fest, a cultural event that was supposed to take place at the Agricultural Hall last weekend. Organizers felt that the Island's Brazilian residents would be unlikely to attend so soon after the ICE raids. 'This was supposed to be a festive celebration at the start of the season and now it's a gloomy feeling,' Reidbord said. If fear continues to keep people at home, it could end up hurting the Island's construction and tourism industries, both of which rely heavily on immigrant labor. 'We're just starting the summer season and there is an influx of immigrants from all over the world coming to Martha's Vineyard,' Reidbord said. 'The community welcomes them and relies on them.' As the Brazilian community tries to settle back into a routine, Duarte said he will continue to advise his congregants to obey the law, and stay out of trouble as best they can. 'We are here to help, but we think at this point, there's not much we can do other than pray,' he said. The Vineyard Gazette on Martha's Vineyard is a news partner of To subscribe to the Vineyard Gazette, click here. Cape Cod beach named one of the top 10 US beaches by Dr. Beach Mass. Gov. Healey slams ICE over migrant arrests on Nantucket, Vineyard About 40 people on Martha's Vineyard, Nantucket arrested by ICE Tuesday ICE conducted raids on Vineyard, Nantucket Tuesday, eyewitnesses say Immigration agents seen arresting several people on Nantucket Tuesday Read the original article on MassLive.
Yahoo
7 hours ago
- Yahoo
Governor signs bill aimed at deterring pop-up parties
The bill is a legislative attempt to combat unruly gatherings of teens and young people that officials say have caused havoc, especially in Shore towns. (Lori M. Nichols for New Jersey Monitor) The Senate on Monday joined the Assembly in concurring with Gov. Phil Murphy's conditional veto of a bill that would create new criminal charges to deter disruptive pop-up parties that have harried some New Jersey towns in recent years, and the bill became law after Murphy signed it Monday afternoon. The new law will allow authorities to charge those who provoke or attempt to provoke at least four others into disorderly conduct with inciting a public brawl or who conceal their identities to instill fear or frustrate authorities' attempts to apprehend or prosecute them. 'This law makes it clear that if you incite a public brawl, you will be held accountable. We need to give law enforcement the tools to stop this kind of chaos before someone gets seriously hurt, or worse,' said bill sponsor Assemblyman Dan Hutchison (D-Gloucester). Those who wear masks or disguises for medical, demonstrative, or religious reasons will not be subject to prosecution for concealing their identities. The new law is a legislative response to pop-up parties and other large, unruly gatherings of young people that have spurred violence and chaos in some New Jersey communities in recent years. A push in favor of the law rose after Memorial Day weekend, when authorities in Seaside Heights said gangs of young people created havoc on the boardwalk. In May, a brawl at the Menlo Park Mall broke out among 300 young people, forcing seven arrests and leaving one officer injured as locals called police from neighboring towns to bring the fracas under control, authorities said. Later last month, officials were forced to shutter a carnival outside the Woodbridge Center after hundreds of teens responded to a social media post about the event. Authorities said they made no arrests at the scene to avoid an escalation. 'This bill is meant to make such incidents less frequent and to give our public safety officers more training and resources to help bring these situations under control,' said bill sponsor Sen. Paul Moriarty (D-Gloucester). Murphy conditionally vetoed the bipartisan bill in early May over First Amendment concerns. The earlier version would have criminalized engaging or promoting others to engage in disorderly conduct and lacked exemptions for medical and other mask-wearing.
