Anne Heche had narcotics in system after fiery Los Angeles car crash: Police
Heche, 53, was critically injured in the crash, her representative said.
ByMeredith Deliso, Alex Stone, and Josh Margolin
Blood work showed that actress Anne Heche had narcotics in her system after she was critically injured in a fiery car crash in Los Angeles, according to police.
Heche, 53, is “unconscious” and in “critical condition” after she was involved in the one-car crash, which also damaged a Los Angeles home, her representative confirmed to ABC News on Monday.
The Los Angeles Police Department said Thursday that they received results of blood that was drawn shortly after the crash, which showed she had narcotics in her system.
Additional work is being done to rule out a positive result based on any drugs administered at the hospital, ABC News has learned.
Investigators told ABC News that no alcohol was detected in Heche’s blood sample, though because the blood draw was many hours after the crash they are not ruling it out.
Law enforcement sources briefed on the crash and rescue told ABC News that first responders who pulled Heche out of the car were unsure she would live on Friday given the severity of her injuries. The sources said she was unable to talk and without an ID, which may have burned in the fire, and that it took police until Saturday to positively identify Heche.
It is standard in such a crash to investigate whether drugs or alcohol could have been involved, sources said.
LAPD sources told ABC News they suspect that Heche was allegedly driving at an excessive speed when the crash happened.
The LAPD has been unable to speak with Heche in the hospital due to her condition, sources said.
“Despite previous reports that Heche was stable, shortly after the accident, Anne Heche became unconscious, slipping into a coma and is in critical condition,” her representative said in a statement Monday. “She has a significant pulmonary injury requiring mechanical ventilation and burns that require surgical intervention.”
According to the Los Angeles Fire Department, a driver struck a two-story home in the Mar Vista neighborhood around noon Friday, “causing structural compromise and erupting in heavy fire.” They rescued a woman found in the car, who was transported to an area hospital in critical condition, the LAFD said.
Nearly 60 firefighters responded to extinguish the “stubborn flames within the heavily damaged structure,” the department said.
There were no passengers in the car and no other injuries were reported, the LAFD said. The department would not confirm if Heche was the driver, citing medical privacy laws.
DMV records and police sources confirmed that the vehicle involved in the crash and fire was registered to Heche.
The LAPD’s West Traffic Division is investigating.
Authorities are also investigating an alleged misdemeanor hit-and-run incident before the fiery crash.
Police told ABC News no arrests have been made at this time.
Shawn Holley, the attorney for Lynne Mishele, the woman who was in the house at the time of the crash, issued a statement Monday, saying, “Ms. Mishele is devastated by what happened to her on Friday — not only because she and her pets almost lost their lives, but because all of her property, including items of profound sentimental value, were destroyed. She asks for privacy at this incredibly difficult time.”
Heche is known for films such as “Donnie Brasco” and “Six Days, Seven Nights” and the TV shows “Save Me” and “The Brave.” In 2020, she was a contestant on “Dancing with the Stars.”
She was nominated for a Tony for the 2004 production of “Twentieth Century.”
Her co-host on the podcast “Better Together with Anne & Heather,” Heather Boylston, also confirmed in a statement to ABC News Saturday that Heche is in stable condition.
ABC News’ Lisa Sivertsen contributed to this report.
Reports: Actress Anne Heche critical after crashing car into house, starting fire
BEVERLY HILLS, CALIFORNIA – MARCH 12: Anne Heche attends the 74th Annual Directors Guild Of America Awards at The Beverly Hilton on March 12, 2022 in Beverly Hills, California. (Photo by Jesse Grant/Getty Images)
Anne Heche crashed her Mini Cooper into an apartment complex garage Friday, sped away when residences tried to help her and then crashed into a nearby home, setting off a destructive fire that landed the “Six Days, Seven Nights” actress in the hospital with severe burns, TMZ reported.
Photos posted on TMZ show Heche apparently in the moments immediately after the garage mishap, with what appears to be a bottle of alcohol in the cup-holder. The site says apartment residents showed up to help her out of her car but she backed up and sped off, crashing into a home moments later in the West Side neighborhood of Mar Vista.
Other photos show Heche’s damaged and charred vehicle; firefighters battling the burning roof of the house; and a stretcher being loaded into an ambulance. TMZ says Heche, covered in a white cloth, “suddenly sits up on the stretcher and starts flailing wildly as they put her in the ambulance.”
TMZ did not report on the extent of Heche’s injuries, but said she was hospitalized “but expected to live.”
“We really had a multifaceted incident here,” LAFD Capt. Erik Scott told KTLA. “We had a significant traffic collision, we had entrapment of a woman inside that, we had car that erupted into fire, and then we had a home that had significant fire that is red tagged. It’s at this point destroyed.”
Video from a Ring doorbell camera shows car owned by actress Anne Heche flying down a neighborhood street in Mar Vista before it crashed into a home Friday
TheWrap contacted the LAPD and LAFD, which did not have an immediate update. A rep for Heche did not immediately return messages left Friday.
This story is developing …
Sharon Knolle contributed to this report.