Criminal charges expected in Santa Cruz cliff crash

LIVE OAK — A mother who drove off a cliff Friday near Sunny Cove Beach is under arrest, pending felony attempted murder and child endangerment charges, police said Monday.

The woman, identified only as a 38-year-old Live Oak resident, had not yet been named nor been booked into Santa Cruz County Jail as of Monday afternoon.

On Friday, the woman allegedly was driving shortly after 8 a.m. at a high rate of speed down Sunny Cove Drive before crashing through a guardrail and wooden bench into Monterey Bay, according to Santa Cruz County Sheriff’s Office officials. She was traveling in a Nissan sedan with two children inside — both of whom were not seriously injured in the crash, officials said. Authorities have declined to share the ages of the children.

“As far as a motive, that’s another thing that we can’t release right now because it’s still being investigated and some additional leads have to be fleshed out before we release that,” Sheriff’s Office deputy Sgt. Dan Robbins said.

The driver was flown to an out-of-county trauma center for treatment of her injuries shortly after the crash. The Nissan submerged into the bay between rocky outcroppings at the end of the street and had not been removed Monday, Robbins said.

“The car is still submerged but we are constantly re-evaluating that for the intent of getting it out,” Robbins said. “We have additional resources coming to help with retrieving the car.”

Late Friday morning, a surfer was combing the surf near the crash site for large pieces of the Nissan that had broken off from the car and were washing away.