Update: Fire Captain Charged With Being Three Times Over the Alcohol Limit in Hit and Run of Bicyclist
Prosecutors issue a $250,000 warrant for the arrest of John Hines today.
A Long Beach fire captain was charged today with felony DUI hit and run for allegedly driving into a Seal Beach cyclist earlier this month. Prosecutors said John David Hines had a blood alcohol level of .24 percent, three times the legal limit, at the time of the accident.
Hines, 38, of Huntington Beach, was charged with a felony count of driving under the influence of alcohol causing bodily injury, driving with a blood alcohol level of .08 percent or more causing injury, hit and run with injury, and sentencing enhancements and allegations for causing great bodily injury and having a blood alcohol level over .20 percent.
If convicted, Hines faces a maximum six years and eight months in state prison, said a spokesperson for the Orange County District Attorney’s office. A $250,000 warrant has been issued for Hines’ arrest. His arraignment date is to be determined.
“Instead of staying to render aid, he left the victim like common road kill in a pool of blood, and fled the scene…it is egregious,” said Deputy District Attorney Andrew Katz of the Special Prosecutions Unit. “It’s 1 in the afternoon, he’s three times the legal limit. He’s a firefighter, no less, someone whose job it is to aid people in medical distress. It’s not some 18-year-old kid who had too much to drink. He knows better. He should know better.”
Related: 'He Had to Have Known He Hit Him,'
According to prosecutors, on April 1, Hines spent the morning drinking at a Long Beach restaurant called Schooner or Later, then drove his truck down Westminster Avenue in Seal Beach. Investigators said he swerved off the road and crashed into 47-year-old bicyclist Jeffrey Gordon.
“The force of the impact from the crash caused by Hines left a blood splatter on the defendant’s vehicle and resulted in major front-end fender and hood damage,” a district attorney’s spokesperson said in a written release.
Gordon was thrown more than 70 feet and landed on the shoulder of the road, according to prosecutors. Witnesses said Hines failed to slow or brake after hitting Gordon, and then drove to his home while being chased by witnesses.
The impact of the high-speed collision broke the windshield and nearly disabled Long Hines’ Chevy Silverado, said witnesses who chased Hines, honking and screaming at him to pull over, as he drove several blocks from the crash scene to his Huntington Beach home.
Billy Chisholm said he was a passenger in one of those pursuing vehicles.
“I was sick to my stomach the whole time,” Chisholm recalled. “He just hit him and left him to die like he was a skunk in the road. He had to have known he hit him because his truck was all busted up. That was a human being he left there to die. It’s not right.”
Gordon spent two weeks in the hospital. According to investigators, he suffered head trauma, severe lacerations and bruising to his head and body, internal injuries, and spinal and vertebrae injuries. He continues to suffer limited physical mobility and speech and memory loss.
On the day of the incident, Hines was arrested and then released on $50,000 bail. With today’s warrant, he can turn himself in or police will arrest him, said Katz.
“We are hoping that he will turn himself in as soon as possible,” said Katz.
Hines’ attorney Vince Tucci has been in contact with the prosecutor’s office. Tucci did not return phone calls for comment Wednesday.
John B. Greet
6:26 pm on Wednesday, April 27, 2011
My prayers are with Mr. Gordon and his loved ones. They are also with Off. Hines as she and Capt. Hines's other loved ones struggle to deal with the aftermath of decisions and actions they had nothing to do with or responsibility for. Finally, my prayers are with Capt. Hines. May he find the courage and the wisdom necessary to admit to any crimes he may have committed and to deal directly with the reasonable consequences assessed. May he receive the help he needs in combatting his personal demons so that he might one day come to the end of this terrible path he seems to have set himself upon and find peace as well.
Sandy Jenkins
4:34 pm on Thursday, April 28, 2011
Im surprised this guy didnt make the top 10 list of worst drivers in california
http://www.driver-ratings.com/US/worst-drivers/?r=902657
Paige Austin
8:46 pm on Thursday, April 28, 2011
As of Thursday afternoon, John Hines still hadn't turned himself in, according to a spokeswoman for the Orange County District Attorney's Office.
Panglonymous
8:05 pm on Monday, May 2, 2011
Anything new on this?
Paige Austin
11:27 am on Friday, April 29, 2011
As of 11:26 Friday, John Hines still had not been arrested or turned himself in, according to the district attorney's office.
Mike Ruehle
11:46 am on Friday, April 29, 2011
Is it true Mr. Roadkill has been spotted in a white bronco headed to Mexico with a Long Beach Police and Fire Department escort?
Panglonymous
2:59 pm on Friday, April 29, 2011
"[Hines' attorney] Vincent John Tucci currently is the President of the California DUI Lawyer's Association ("CDLA")"
http://www.caduilaw.com
"Our Firm of Braden & Tucci consists of myself, Vincent John Tucci and my wife, Sonia J. Braden. We are one of Southern California's most respected and FEARED law firms in the area of DUI & DMV defense. Our firm is dedicated to aggressively defending and protecting people accused of driving under the influence both in court and at the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV).
[snip]
In the last five years, Vincent Tucci has personally tried over 85 DUI jury trials with 60 of those jury trials having a successful outcome for the client in all Southern California courts with an emphasis in Los Angeles County and Orange County. Vincent Tucci has represented citizens against the DMV in excess of 1000 times.
[snip]
For the record, unlike some of our competition, we are not former police officers nor are we former prosecutors. We never had a job putting people in jail. We try to get people out of that situation. We are now and always have been lawyers representing people accused of committing the crime of driving under the influence." (more)
Panglonymous
3:03 pm on Friday, April 29, 2011
Selected peer endorsements (excerpted):
"...No self respecting prosecutor wants the ASS KICKING Tucci can dish out..."
"...Have you ever heard of the most passionate lawyer with FIRE COMING OUT OF HIS MOUTH AND SMOKE COMING OUT OF HIS NOSE? Only the most tenacious attorney in DUI Defense, Vincent Tucci genuinely displays a legal arsenal and perfect personality capable of defeating a California DUI Prosecutor in every case. Mr. Tucci is the TRUE GENERAL AND COMMANDER OF EVERY DUI DEFENSE ATTORNEY WARRIOR in California..."
"...Attorney Tucci taught me an important lesson that is best summed up in a phrase that he repeats time and again: "Amazing things happen when you say ready for trial." It is so true. Being totally prepared for every case is what he is best known for. Calling the Government out and catching them when they are not prepared is just one successful strategy that he employs..."
"...He keeps winning cases that other lawyers would not even dare try. Many prosecutors offer him deals rather than loose the case against him..."
http://www.caduilaw.com/firm_profile/court_victories/2005.html
[MY EMPHASES]
Shore Resident
3:30 pm on Friday, April 29, 2011
Respectfully, Pan; what is your point? Doesn't the Constitution guarantee every person accused of a crime the right to a jury trial of their peers, a vigorous defense, and the presumption of innocence, and the burden of proof on the prosecution to the pinnacle of "beyond a reasonable doubt?"
Unfortunately, many commenting on a number of issues seem to have forgotten that.
Panglonymous
3:51 pm on Friday, April 29, 2011
Hi, Shore
Let me quote John, above:
"May he find the courage and the wisdom necessary to admit to any crimes he may have committed and to deal directly with the reasonable consequences assessed."
I second that.
Does honor demand anything of anyone anymore? Man, Shore, I gotta tell ya, I'm on the brink of providing a permanent answer to that question: No, not ever, nevermore.
And that just sucks.
Shore Resident
4:44 pm on Friday, April 29, 2011
I understand, I really do. However, put yourself in his shoes ( and yes, we've probably all driven when we shouldn't have). However, and I really love our country for this, but we are set up that a guilty person MAY go free, rather than an innocent person be wrongfully convicted. Are we perfect????? Absolutely not. Would I rather put my fate in the hands of our legal system than any other?????? Absolutely.
Despite what I may feel about what may, or may not have happened, all I am saying is that we have a legal system to sort it out. I'd rather this than vigilante law.
How many times have we seen the news lately where the DNA evidence refutes what eye witnesses testified to 20 years ago?
Should Cpt Hines pay for his crimes if convicted? Yes, he should. All I'm saying is let the legal process take it's course before we hang him.
Panglonymous
6:39 pm on Friday, April 29, 2011
"...all I am saying is that we have a legal system to sort it out. I'd rather this than vigilante law."
Isn't that a false dilemma, though, Shore? A third option (which should be first, imo) is to man up, no?
Shore Resident
4:48 pm on Friday, April 29, 2011
And, as I said in another article:
Does anyone else find this amusing?
Shore Patrol: Noise-hating activist moves to airport area
http://www.presstelegram.com/news/ci_17954569
Donna Burns
3:20 pm on Saturday, April 30, 2011
Douglas Zerby chose not to drive drunk...
Mike Ruehle
4:55 pm on Saturday, April 30, 2011
Isn't it interesting how those commentors who ridiculed Zerby for being drunk choose not to comment when a drunken Fire Department Captain runs over a man and leaves him for dead. Zerby took waaaaaaay more responsibility for his actions than Captain road kill. Yet, not a peep out of the people who ridiculed Zerby for being drunk.
This leads one to conclude the commentors who ridiculed Zerby are cops or friends of cops. They support police officers and other city employees no matter how bad their transgression.