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The Orange County Register reports today that a 21-year-old U.S. Marine has been charged with gross vehicular manslaughter in a rear-end crash that killed a prominent radiologist. Click here to read our blog about this auto accident. Michael Aung Sein and his wife Grace were sent to the hospital with major injuries. Elijah Ferguson was reportedly driving under the influence and his blood alcohol level was reportedly more than the .08 legal limit. He was also driving without a valid license, the newspaper reports. Ferguson is being held on a $100,000 bail and will be arraigned March 21.

Drunk driving accidents are unfortunately all too common in the Newport Beach and Costa Mesa area. Unfortunately, a drunk driving accident over the weekend took the life of a well-known local radiologist. According to an article in The Orange County Register, 64-year-old Michael Aung Sein of Newport Coast died in a rear-end crash involving an allegedly drunken driver. Elijah Ferguson, 21, of Santa Ana was arrested and charged with gross vehicular manslaughter, the newspaper reported.

Ferguson rear-ended Sein’s Aston Martin when it was stopped at a red light on MacArthur Boulevard. According to his colleagues at the Coastal Communities Hospital in Santa Ana, Sein was a “highly talented radiologist.” Sein succumbed to severe injuries suffered in the crash and was pronounced dead at Hoag Hospital, the article said. His wife, Grace Sein, is in the hospital with head injuries, the article said.

Ferguson apparently got away with a broken ankle. Police are still investigating the case, but officials told the Register that both speed and alcohol were dominant factors in this accident.
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Two young Orange County children and their grandmother are reportedly on a tough road to recovery after they suffered critical injuries in a DUI accident in Lake Forest. According to an article posted on MSNBC News’ Web site, the drunken driver drove into oncoming traffic and crashed head-on into the family minivan near the intersection of Muirlands Boulevard and Entrados Drive.

A 3-year-old and 5-year-old in the Ford minivan suffered severe head injuries when Nelson Mercado, 27, driving a Chevy pickup caused the crash. He only suffered minor injuries. The children’s mother and two other teenage boys riding in the minivan were also reportedly injured.
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A 48-year-old Rancho Cucamonga man died after a trailer being towed by a truck on the San Gabriel River (605) Freeway in Baldwin Park came loose and resulted in a four-vehicle crash. Gil Tae Kim reportedly died on the scene of head injuries he suffered in the crash, according to a news article on NBC News’ Web site.

Michael D. Brown, 45, of Long Beach was the person towing the runaway trailer in a Ford-350 truck. The trailer then suddenly detached itself from the truck, bounced over the center divider wall onto the southbound lanes of the 605, according to a California Highway Patrol accident report. A tire from the trailer apparently struck the windshield of Kim’s 2007 Toyota Camry on the driver’s side.

The impact of the tire crashing on his windshield reportedly caused Kim to lose control of his car, which slid to the center divided wall and came to a stop on a grassy patch on the side of the freeway. Two other drivers, who were also injured, were only treated for mild to moderate injuries.
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Tire tread separation may have caused a fatal SUV rollover crash near Cordelia, which killed one woman and injured four others. According to an article in The Reporter , 65-year-old Kalo Lolo of San Mateo died after she was ejected from the Isuzu Trooper sport utility vehicle.

The accident reportedly occurred after the driver of the SUV felt as if there was a problem with one of the right side tires of the vehicle and hit the brakes. The Isuzu Trooper then shot across the left lane on to the soft dirt along the center divider and then began skidding sideways before it overturned, the article reported.

Three passengers in the SUV, including the woman who was killed, were thrown out of the vehicle. Investigators are still trying to pin down what caused the accident, but they say it appears the tread separated from one of the Trooper’s rear tires before the vehicle went out of control.

The city of Norfolk in Virginia has agreed to pay $7.5 million to settle a lawsuit filed by a woman whose son suffered severe brain injuries after being hit by a truck driven by a city employee. The Virginian-Pilot newspaper reports that the lawsuit was filed by Renee Wilson on behalf of her now 19-year-old son Travis Dalton, who functions with the mental capacity of an 11-year-old since the accident.

The incident occurred in December 2006. Dalton was on his way to a job interview and was standing in the median on a public street when he was hit by the city truck driven by a city employee on the job. Dalton spent three months in the hospital immediately after the accident and had to revisit for follow-ups. Doctors had to remove a portion of his skull to relieve pressure from the swelling in his brain. According to Wilson’s attorney, his medical expenses have exceeded $329,000 and are ever increasing.

The city was apparently not at all inclined to settle with this family in spite of what happened. The city’s attorneys argued that there was no liability because the employee was traveling between two of its recreational facilities and claimed immunity as a governmental agency. In fact, the City Council did not vote to settle until a week before the scheduled jury trial.
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Here is another tragedy that clearly shows how important it is for restaurants, bars and liquor stores to take responsibility and stop providing alcohol to those who are already intoxicated – especially if they are ready to drive away in that condition. According to a news report in the Arizona Daily Star, two Midtown city eateries and the insurance company of a convicted drunk driver agreed to pay a total of $410,000 in settling with the family of a man killed in a DUI crash.

The lawsuit filed by the victim’s family reportedly stated that employees at Elle, a Wine County restaurant and Cuvee World Bistro should’ve known that 36-year-old Julie Lagergen was too intoxicated to be consuming more alcohol before they provided her with more. On Aug. 24, 2005, Lagergen drove her Volvo station wagon head-on into the Kia in which Evan Zarate was a passenger. Her blood alcohol was almost three times the .08 legal limit at 0.23 percent. Zarate, 22, suffered critical injuries in the crash, never regained consciousness and died a week later, the Star reported.
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An off-duty California Highway Patrol officer, who was a 13-year veteran in the force, died last week in a freeway auto accident when his 2001 Chevy Silverado truck veered off the roadway and ejected him from the vehicle. According to an article in the Pasadena Star News, Dale Goddard III, 36, of Chino Hills, was driving from the westbound 210 Freeway to the southbound 15 Freeway.

The truck reportedly drifted to the left, rolled down the embankment and came to rest on the southbound 15 Freeway. Investigators are still looking into what caused the truck to go off the freeway, crash and land on its roof. Alcohol is not believed to have played a role. But investigators believe Goddard was not wearing his seatbelt. His co-workers say they are shocked that the officer, who was vigorously involved in seatbelt enforcement, was not buckled up himself.

We hope the officer’s family makes sure that a thorough investigation is conducted. The officer’s co-workers will probably make sure that happens, but there are certainly a few issues here that would catch the eye of a seasoned personal injury attorney or an auto product defect attorney who looks at this incident. First of all, the question is what caused the officer to lose control of the vehicle? Was there a mechanical defect?
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A Santa Fe man reportedly died as his home burned down around him in what fire officials suspect was caused by a defective space heater. According to an article posted in the local ABC news channel’s Web site, 59-year-old Charles “Beau” Britz could not get out of his house after a space heater in the front of his house caught on fire as Britz and his 29-year-old son slept inside.

The son, Robert, who was the first to notice the fire, broke his hand trying to get out of the intense flames. His father however died near the front windows where the flames were out of control, the news channel reports. The entire Santa Fe neighborhood is in shock after the sudden and tragic death of a person they say was a friendly and amiable neighbor and good friend.

According to the report, the Houston Fire Department sees 100 fires each year that are caused by defective space heaters and furnaces. Officials are warning people during this peak winter season that heaters should be kept on the floor at least three feat away from the walls, furniture or any other material that may cause or fuel a fire.
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Accident investigations can make or break an auto accident case. And every day, we see examples of incidents where initial incident reports are proved to be wrong and other facts emerge and surface as an investigation into an auto accident progresses.

Take for example this horrific fatal accident that left four people dead near the Pala Casino. California Highway Patrol officials now say the 24-year-old man, Anthony Boles, who they first said was the driver and had drugs in his possession, didn’t do it. Last week, they arrested 23-year-old Deanna Fridley charging her with four counts of vehicular manslaughter and driving under the influence of alcohol. Fridley is still recovering from her injuries and is hospitalized.

But the thing is, it took CHP officials a little over a month to figure out the facts of this case and said they issued the name of the wrong person as driver of the GMC Yukon that slammed into a Toyota Camry 3 miles away from the casino. The Yukon reportedly hit a guard rail and then veered off into the opposing lane colliding with the Camry head-on, killing all four people inside that car. Jesus De Santiago, 45, and Lina De Santiago, 46, of Escondido, and Rubi Baez, 46, and Luis Baez, 51, of Vista – all died in the crash. Both Fridley and Boles deny driving the SUV, but investigators now have a video tape from the casino’s parking lot showing Fridley getting behind the wheel and driving off.
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