Westminster : Van Accident Interrupts Phone, Electric Service

A Wilmington man was seriously injured Friday morning when his van severed a utility pole in Westminster, interrupting telephone service to approximately 200 customers and electrical service to about 50 homes.

Police said Joseph Munoz, 30, of Wilmington was driving southbound on Springdale Street just south of the San Diego Freeway at approximately 11 a.m. when his van went out of control and struck a pole near the intersection with Camphor Avenue. Munoz was freed from his vehicle about 30 minutes later by the Westminster Fire Department using a hydraulic device and taken to Fountain Valley Regional Hospital and Medical Center where he was listed in serious condition in the intensive care unit.

Hal Compton, a spokesman for General Telephone Co., said that telephone service was expected to be restored late Friday. Fred Mickelson, a Southern California Edison spokesman, said that the accident did not cause power to be knocked out in the immediate area, but he added that service to 50 homes had to be interrupted for about two hours in order to repair the pole.