A man was hospitalized and will be arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence after he allegedly caused a single-car crash that killed his passenger in Orange early Friday morning, Jan. 23, authorities said.

The crash occurred in the area of La Veta Avenue and Batavia Street shortly before 3:15 a.m.

A woman in a passenger seat was pronounced dead and the man driving the vehicle was taken to a hospital, police said.

Video from OC Hawk, a freelance news organization that sometimes works with the Southern California News Group, shows a white BMW car that appeared to have been sheared in half by the force of the collision, with part of the car wrapped around a light pole along La Veta.

The man was driving eastbound on La Veta approaching Batavia when he collided with the pole at a point where the roadway curves to the left, Orange police Lt. Mike Monjaraz said.

A California Highway Patrol officer had attempted to pull the car over earlier in the evening, and Orange police were looking into whether the CHP officer was in pursuit of the car before the crash, Monjaraz said.

The woman was not identified by police pending notification of her relatives. The man’s identity had not been yet released.

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