Accident

One person was killed in what appeared to be a head-on collision involving at least three vehicles Wednesday morning at Bolsa Chica Street and Tasman Drive in Huntington Beach, according to police. Three other people, including an infant, were transported to local hospitals, said Lt. Mitch O'Brien. Their condition has not been released. Police responded to the accident at 7:31 a.m., and by 9:30 a.m. investigators were still at the site determining how the accident happened.

The family of a boy who sustained severe burns after falling into a Huntington Beach fire pit has sued the city, according to the Orange County Register. Six-year-old Seth Richardson fell backward into the smoldering fire pit at Huntington City Beach about 6 p.m. April 17 while flying a kite, attorney Rob Gibson said in August. The family filed a claim against the city Aug. 10 asking for $500,000. The lawsuit was filed in Orange County Superior Court on Feb. 15, according to the Register.

Westminster police Wednesday night were investigating whether speeding or horseplay were factors in a traffic accident that claimed the life of an 18-year-old high school student. Kody Kessler, a Westminster resident who attended Ocean View High School, was pronounced dead at the scene at Rancho Road near Spa Drive, police said. The accident occurred about 3 p.m. Wednesday. Kessler was a passenger in the Chevrolet pickup that smashed through a chain-link fence and plunged into a flood-control channel, said Officer Van Woodson of the Westminster Police Department.

A Huntington Beach man badly injured in a 2003 accident was awarded a settlement of more than $12 million for his injuries. Ngoc Nguyen, 42, suffered brain trauma after he was thrown from his bucket truck when a construction vehicle hit it in Irvine, said Nguyen's attorney, Ned Reilly. Nguyen was repairing a traffic signal when his vehicle was hit by a driver working for the El Modeno Gardens company, Reilly said. After the accident, Nguyen was in a coma for 22 days, Reilly said.

A 2003 graduate of Estancia High School died early Sunday morning after a traffic accident in Arvada, Colo. Brian "Bubba" Kapko, 19, was traveling to Denver with four other people after a volleyball tournament in Boulder. Kapko, a student at Johnson & Wales University in Denver, was the only person to die in the accident. Kris Hartwell, also an Estancia High graduate, was in the vehicle with Kapko. Hartwell's mother, Kathy Hartwell, said her son sustained a broken thumb.

A pedestrian was killed Monday night after being hit by a Jeep on Pacific Coast Highway east of Magnolia Street, police said Tuesday. The 18-year-old man may have been outside the crosswalk when he was hit by the jeep at about 6:30 p.m., police said. He was pronounced dead at the scene.. Authorities have not released the man's identity because they have not notified his family yet. The jeep’s driver, Alissa Puccio, 25, of Newport Beach, was not hurt, police said.

Police are still seeking information regarding the death of a Garden Grove man in a recent traffic accident. The 67-year-old was crossing Warner Avenue northbound at Leslie Lane, one-fifth of a mile east of Bolsa Chica Street, about 5:56 a.m. Friday when a white Land Rover driven by Jorge Salazarleon of Huntington Beach struck him, preliminary police investigations indicate. He was taken to Huntington Beach Hospital, where he died about half an hour later from his injuries, according to the Orange County coroner?

Danette Goulet Clutching small bundles of flowers, friends and family members of Chelsea Toma gathered in front of Huntington Surf and Sport Friday to remember the young girl. "She made us all feel so comfortable," said Tack Shin, her manager at the surf shop where she worked for about two years. Shin told a crowd of mourners of how he could never be angry with her, even when she broke the rules. "She brought us all together at the surf and sport," he said.

Cara Hulett's phone rang a little after 10 p.m. on Sept. 25. On the other end, her 27-year-old brother Chris Hulett told her that he had just been in a bad accident. Less than two hours earlier, Hulett told his sister, on his way through the intersection at 6th Street and Pacific Coast Highway in Huntington Beach, he struck 16-year-old Heather Stamm and her boyfriend, 19-year-old Nathan Koontz. Hulett told his sister that he called 911 and then stayed with Heather, talking to her and reminding her not to move so she wouldn't further her injuries.

A Huntington Beach woman is questioning why the police chief sent an officer to a non-injury car accident involving a councilman's wife. Budget cuts forced police to stop taking reports at most minor collisions, and 15-year resident Heather Dillard asked in a recent council meeting whether Councilman Devin Dwyer's wife received special consideration. At the Sept. 24 meeting, Dwyer said he called Police Chief Ken Small to ask him to have an officer take a report for his wife, Linda, who had just gotten in an accident.

A Huntington Beach man was sentenced Friday to three years in state prison for a hit-and-run that caused another driver severe injuries, according to the Orange County district attorney's office. Oscar Paz rear-ended a 66-year-old man's Nissan while driving on the Garden Grove (22) Freeway at about 5 a.m. on Dec. 11, thrusting him across the freeway and causing him to crash into the center divider, prosecutors said. Paz, who was driving on a suspended license, then fled the scene without helping the victim, parked his car in a nearby strip mall and called his girlfriend to pick him up. The victim was transported to UC Irvine Medical Center in Orange, where he was in a coma for several weeks, prosecutors said.

The Huntington Beach Police Department is conducting an internal investigation into last week's accidental shooting of a SWAT officer by another member of the department, authorities said. The 20-year veteran officer, who was shot in the leg when another officer's gun was accidentally discharged, underwent an emergency surgery at the UC Irvine Medical Center in Orange and is expected to make a full recovery, Capt. Russ Reinhart said last week. Doctors have recovered the bullet from his leg. The accident happened at about 10 p.m. July 18 while the SWAT team officers were cleaning their firearms at the station after a day of training, Reinhart said.

One person was killed in what appeared to be a head-on collision involving at least three vehicles Wednesday morning at Bolsa Chica Street and Tasman Drive in Huntington Beach, according to police. Three other people, including an infant, were transported to local hospitals, said Lt. Mitch O'Brien. Their condition has not been released. Police responded to the accident at 7:31 a.m., and by 9:30 a.m. investigators were still at the site determining how the accident happened.

A 13-year-old Ontario girl has filed a claim against the city of Huntington Beach after she was struck by a vehicle in a downtown crosswalk. According to the claim, Autumn McDonough was struck at 6:59 p.m. Nov. 22 in a marked crosswalk at Main Street and Pacific Coast Highway. She suffered head trauma including brain damage, a fractured nose and other injuries and spent nine days at UC Irvine's Intensive Care Unit. The claim, which asks for more than $10,000 in damages, says the city is liable for "dangerous road conditions" in the area where Autumn was hit, although it does not elaborate.

Huntington Beach, which topped all California cities its size in alcohol-related injury traffic collisions in 2009, fared slightly better the following year, according to statistics released in March by the Office of Traffic Safety. The city ranked fifth out of 53 in its population category in 2010, the numbers showed. A total of 136 people were killed or injured in alcohol-related collisions, down from 195 the year before. DUI arrests were slightly down from the year before as well, with 1,274 compared to 1,558 in 2009.

The family of a boy who sustained severe burns after falling into a Huntington Beach fire pit has sued the city, according to the Orange County Register. Six-year-old Seth Richardson fell backward into the smoldering fire pit at Huntington City Beach about 6 p.m. April 17 while flying a kite, attorney Rob Gibson said in August. The family filed a claim against the city Aug. 10 asking for $500,000. The lawsuit was filed in Orange County Superior Court on Feb. 15, according to the Register.

Huntington Beach's top newsmaker of 2011 wasn't a person or an organization, but rather a controlled substance. Throughout the year, the Independent's front page featured more drinks than a typical bachelor party. Statistics showed Huntington at the top of California cities its size in alcohol-related car accidents. State officials investigated a popular restaurant that had been tied to a large number of DUIs. Residents incited a hearing on whether downtown could have one more liquor-serving license.

Huntington Beach police are investigating an accident involving an officer who collided with another vehicle while driving a city-owned car in Alhambra. Officer Lisa Gallatin and Lynn Gilbert were turning left at the same time at two left-turn lanes when they bumped into each other, Lt. Russell Reinhart said. Gilbert filed a claim against the city April 20 asking for about $900 in damages. Gallatin is a background investigator who travels to many areas of Southern California for her work and uses a city vehicle, Reinhart said.

Westminster police Wednesday night were investigating whether speeding or horseplay were factors in a traffic accident that claimed the life of an 18-year-old high school student. Kody Kessler, a Westminster resident who attended Ocean View High School, was pronounced dead at the scene at Rancho Road near Spa Drive, police said. The accident occurred about 3 p.m. Wednesday. Kessler was a passenger in the Chevrolet pickup that smashed through a chain-link fence and plunged into a flood-control channel, said Officer Van Woodson of the Westminster Police Department.