A driver was killed when his vehicle went off Pacific Coast Highway south of Mugu Rock Sunday night and landed in the surf line about 100 feet below the roadway, authorities said.
The man was identified Monday as Richard Seo, 29, of Diamond Bar in eastern Los Angeles County, according to the Ventura County Medical Examiner’s Office.
The accident was reported around 7:35 p.m. about a mile south of Sycamore Cove Beach, north of Deer Creek Road, in Ventura County. The crash site is between Mugu Rock and Neptune’s Net restaurant, a landmark on the coastal highway that connects Ventura County and the Malibu area.
Seo had been driving a Toyota FJ Cruiser northbound at the time, according to the California Highway Patrol.
For reasons still under investigation, the Toyota veered left, crossed southbound lanes onto the dirt shoulder and continued down an embankment into the ocean, the CHP reported.
Seo was pronounced dead at the scene by Ventura County Fire Department personnel. No one else was in the vehicle. Oxnard firefighters also responded.
The incident closed PCH for hours Sunday night as firefighters and a sheriff’s helicopter crew conducted a difficult recovery operation. The vehicle was said to be in unstable terrain about 100 or 150 down a cliff in difficult conditions, according to emergency personnel at the scene. Incoming tides eventually submerged the Toyota, with the helicopter providing lighting from the air for rescuers working at the water’s rocky edge.
The coastal route was also closed for a time Monday morning for removal of the vehicle, CHP officials said.
The crash is still under investigation. Anyone who saw it or has information is asked to call the CHP’s Ventura office at 805-662-2640.
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