Man dies after medical emergency causes traffic accident

CHULA VISTA (CNS) – The driver who died after crashing into a garage, two fences and a gas line over the weekend — apparently as a result of a medical emergency — was publicly identified as a 52-year-old Chula Vista man.

Curtiss Allen Welch was driving a Nissan 300ZX west on East J Street around 4:10 p.m. Saturday at a high rate of speed and lost control, according to county Medical Examiner’s Office and Chula Vista police.

The Nissan coupe crossed into oncoming traffic, hit a sidewalk, went through a front yard fence and then crashed into the garage of a residence at 698 Carla Ave. in Chula Vista, authorities said. The car then struck another fence and sheared a gas line on the neighboring property, police said.

Welch was not wearing a seatbelt and died at the scene despite paramedics’ attempts to revive him, officials with the Medical Examiner’s Office said.

Chula Vista police Lt. Christine Penwell said that prior to the crash, Welch apparently suffered some type of medical episode, possibly cardiac in nature. An autopsy has yet to be performed.