Update: Driver, 21, May Have Been High on Inhalant in Apartment Crash

Updated at 3:53 p.m. June 8, 2012

Two people were rushed to Palomar Medical Center on Friday morning after a driver lost control of his car and crashed into the Canyon Crest Apartments, authorities said.

The 21-year-old driver of a Ford Focus struck another vehicle in the parking lot at 1707 La Brea St. in Ramona and then crashed into an apartment, injuring a woman inside, said Battalion Chief Jeff Johnson of Julian Fire Department.

Charles Scott of Imperial was northbound on La Brea Street when the 2005 Ford Focus he was driving veered off the western edge of the roadway shortly before 11:30 a.m., according to the California Highway Patrol.

The Focus hit a road sign near Day Street, then careened into a parking lot, sideswiped another car and smashed into an apartment building, said CHP public-affairs Officer Brian Pennings.

A woman inside the structure suffered moderately serious injuries from
the impact, which left the front end of Scott's car partially pushed into a
residence, Pennings said. Medics airlifted her to a trauma center.

Scott, who was not wearing a seat belt, was taken to Palomar Medical Center for evaluation of apparently minor head trauma, including a bruised forehead.

He was arrested on suspicion of felony driving while intoxicated due to
alleged evidence, including a witness statement, indicating that he was under
the influence of some type of inhalant chemical at the time of the
accident, according to Pennings.

Johnson said crews from Ramona Fire Station 80 also responded to the accident, followed by SDG&E and Ramona Municipal Water District to deal with utilities issues.  The Red Cross was on the scene to help any tenants displaced by the accident.

According to Johnson, dispatchers received the call at 11:27 a.m.

The injuries to Scott and the unidentified apartment dweller were described as moderate, and the woman was airlifted to Palomar in Escondido. Scott was taken by ambulance, Johnson said.

Two apartments were assessed by county officials to be uninhabitable, but the rest of the structure is sound,  according to Ramona Fire Capt. Don Davis.

Apartment manager Gail Payne says she will house the displaced residents in two apartments in a different building of the complex.

City News Service contrbuted to this report.