San Diego Accident Lawyer

San Diego man, 26, killed in car accident
A 26-year-old man was killed in a car accident Saturday about 1 1/3 miles west of Alice. Officials with the Department of Public Safety said Leonel Octavio Trejo Jr. of San Diego was a passenger in a 1994 Chevrolet S-10 pickup headed west on County Road 116. The pickup was struck by a 1998 Lincoln Town Car traveling south. Trejo was pronounced dead at the scene.

Death of surfer from Hawaii wakes up California town
SAN DIEGO — They are sons of La Jolla, five friends who came of age on the edge of the Pacific Ocean. They all played on La Jolla High School's football team. Off the field, they cruised around town and hung out in coves beneath seaside bluffs lined with spectacular homes. As they grew from youngsters to young men, they also sometimes threw a few punches. One eventually left on an athletic scholarship but kept in touch. The others started calling themselves the "Bird Rock Bandits," drawing on the name of La Jolla's most affordable neighborhood where a house can still be found for less than $1 million. Now, together, the five stand accused of first-degree murder, charged with beating to death one of La Jolla's most accomplished and popular surfers in front of the home he shared with his mother. Authorities say the killing of Emery Kauanui Jr., a former Hawai'i resident, was the tragic culmination of assaults spanning several years by the Bird Rock Bandits. Kauanui's death — and the violent encounters that came before — has generated a wave of soul-searching in this seaside haven of 50,000 residents north of downtown San Diego. Were parents too indulgent or preoccupied? Were police too slow to spot the pattern? Were those aware of the beatings too afraid to speak up? The night that ended so horribly began with a petty beef in a crowded La Jolla restaurant and bar in late May. Kauanui spilled a beer on one of the five friends. Within an hour, the 24-year-old surfer was hospitalized, his skull fractured, his brain bleeding. The San Diego district attorney's office has accused the five friends of following Kauanui home and beating him unconscious with their fists and feet. Prosecutors say the "most deadly weapon of all" was Bandits leader Seth Cravens, 21. Only he remains in jail, unable to post bail of $1.5 million. Cravens has pleaded not guilty, as have Eric House, 20; Matthew Yanke, 21; Henri "Hank" Hendricks, 21; and Orlando Osuna, 22. A preliminary hearing is scheduled for March. Lawyers for the defendants, who would not let their clients be interviewed, contend that prosecutors succumbed to public passions over Kauanui's death and filed charges that are excessive. They say Kauanui, who knew his alleged killers, instigated the fight and that several of the accused did not hit him. The death, they say, was accidental. "This wasn't a killing," says Alan Spears, one of Cravens' attorneys. "It was a fistfight." La Jolla residents say the death has forced them to look beyond the luxury boutiques, six-figure incomes and sunny beaches to the town's darker realities. Anne Cleveland, president of the Town Council, has soaked up the La Jolla life since 1961. "It's easier to sanitize these things in a place like La Jolla, to sweep it under the rug and go on with your life," Cleveland says. "But you can only do that for so long." Seth Cravens cut a menacing presence. He had big, punishing fists, and friends say he liked to use them. "He definitely liked to be intimidating," says buddy Matthew Schneider. Most adversaries would back away to save themselves, Schneider says. "I've never seen him get dropped." Cravens was the "odd one out" in a family of 13 brothers and sisters, Schneider says. They lived in Mount Soledad, an exclusive hilltop enclave in La Jolla with panoramic views of the coast. While his siblings were charting careers and building families, Cravens, the second-youngest, was getting suspended from middle school for fighting. Cravens' parents tried to control him, says a sister, Sarah. "My parents never made excuses for Seth," Sarah says. "Ultimately, the child is going to do what he is going to do, despite the best efforts of the parents." At a party in La Jolla in summer 2002, Cravens, 17, was accused of punching Thomas Barrow in the head as many as 20 times, causing hearing loss and jaw damage. Barrow, also 17, was beaten after he came to the defense of a young woman Cravens allegedly had threatened to hit. "I remember trying to shield my head and thinking, 'Don't fight back.' If I were to fight back, I'd have 10 people on me," Barrow recalls. Barrow's mother, Clare, was horrified when she saw his bruised and lumpy face. "My son was not the first," she says. The family pressed charges. The San Diego County probation department recommended that Cravens be prosecuted in juvenile court....

Girl hurt in hit-and-run accident
A man driving a pickup truck seen speeding down a street in Emerald Hills this morning struck a child and then hit a house, San Diego police said. The 5-year-old girl was taken to the hospital. The extent of her injuries was not known. Officials originally reported she was 8 years old. Police are looking for the driver. It is believed he was in a white two-door pickup truck that may have been reported stolen, said police Sgt. Kerry Tom. The truck was ditched about a mile from where the girl was hit. A gas and water line were broken when the car struck the house on Kelton Road around 7:21 a.m, Tom said.

San Marcos, Carlsbad chase ends in crash
SAN MARCOS ---- San Diego County sheriff's deputies chased robbery suspects at speeds up to 80 mph from San Marcos into Carlsbad late Thursday, authorities said. The chase began at about 8 p.m. after an armed robbery at a San Marcos pizza shop, a deputy said, and it reportedly covered stretches of San Marcos Boulevard, Palomar Airport Road and El Camino Real before it ended in a crash. Carlsbad police officers and a Sheriff's Department helicopter also participated in the effort. Further information was unavailable Thursday night.

Car Accidents Multiply As Weather Worsens
SAN DIEGO -- Rain-soaked roads contributed to reports of twice as many accidents in San Diego County as on an average Friday, California Highway Patrol officials said Saturday. There were 140 crashes on San Diego County freeways and in unincorporated areas between 12:01 a.m. and midnight Friday, according to a CHP report. In a normal, "good weather " 24-hour period, there are 50 to 75 crashes reported.

Truck Driver Killed in 405 Freeway Wreck
Long Beach -- Authorities re-opened all southbound lanes on the San Diego (405) Freeway this morning in Long Beach more than four hours after a bigrig wreck ended in a truck driver's death. But four of five northbound lanes on the 405 at Atlantic Avenue were still closed as of 3:30 a.m., according to the California Highway Patrol. The victim was preliminarily identified as a white male in his 40s, said California Highway Patrol Officer David Porter. A coroner's investigator was requested. The bigrig was hauling a load of dry ice when it struck a center divider and overturned on the southbound 405 at Atlantic Avenue, Porter said. The accident was first reported at 11:06 p.m., Porter said. Ten of the 12 available lanes on the 405 were closed following the crash, Porter said.

San Diego man killed in two-car accident Saturday 26 year old was pronounced dead at the scene Christopher Maher, Alice Echo-News Journal A 26-year-old San Diego man was killed in a two-vehicle accident that occurred on Highway 281 near Alice Saturday. According to Department of Public Safety reports, the accident occurred at the intersection of Highway 281 and County Road 116, just west of Alice, shortly after 10 p.m. Saturday. According to reports, a 1994 Chevrolet S10 pickup truck was traveling westbound on County Road 116, when the driver failed to yield at a stop sign at the intersection with Highway 281. The pickup truck entered Highway 281 and was struck by a 1998 Lincoln Towncar traveling south on the highway, officials said. A passenger in the pickup truck, identified as Leonel Octavio Trejo Jr., 26, was pronounced dead at the scene. The driver of the pickup truck, identified as Paulita Alaniz, 47, of San Diego was treated for non-life threatening injuries, according to reports. The driver of the Lincoln Towncar, identified as Pedro Renteria, of Leachville, Ark., was not injured in the accident. A Rosary is scheduled to be recited for Trejo at 7 p.m. Tuesday at Our Lady of Guadalupe Catholic Church in Alice.

405 Lanes Reopen In Long Beach After Fatal Big Rig Crash LONG BEACH -- A big rig hauling dry ice struck the center divider on the southbound San Diego (405) Freeway in Long Beach and overturned, fatally injuring the 44-year-old truck driver, authorities said Wednesday. The crash, which happened just north of Atlantic Boulevard, was reported at 11:06 p.m. Tuesday, said California Highway Patrol Officer David Porter. A motorist driving a Nissan Maxima in the No. 1 lane reported that the big rig was in the No. 3 lane when it began to veer to the left, according to a CHP report. The Maxima driver hit the brakes, and the big rig's left rear tires struck the right front panel of the Maxima causing minor damage, according to the CHP. The big rig continued into the No. 1 lane, then hit the center divider wall and a concrete bridge pillar, he said. The truck driver was "partially ejected" from the vehicle and died at the scene, the CHP reported. His name was not released. The impact caused the truck's trailer to fall into the northbound lanes while the tractor remained on the southbound side, investigators said. The crash resulted in the closure of most of the lanes on both sides of the freeway. By mid-morning Wednesday, the lanes were reopened.

Two killed in head-on crash near SDSU SAN DIEGO – Two people were killed in a head-on collision on Interstate 8 near San Diego State University early Christmas morning, authorities said. Terry McGraw Lowe, 56, of El Cajon was driving a pickup east in a westbound lane about 2:30 a.m. when her vehicle collided with a Toyota minivan driven by Kim Triet Chung, 56, of San Diego, the Medical Examiner's office said. Both died at the scene.

Top horse trainer Baird killed in crash Dale Baird, the winningest thoroughbred trainer with more than 9,400 victories, died in a crash along an icy Indiana highway when he lost control of his pickup truck while hauling a livestock trailer. He was 72. He was killed Sunday in the accident on Interstate 70 along with two teenagers whose car broadsided the truck about 20 miles east of Indianapolis. James Pardo, 19, and Jared Graham, 18, were returning from the Indianapolis Colts-Houston Texans game. Hancock County police say strong winds and a slick road most likely contributed to the crash, which happened after Baird's truck crossed a median and slid into oncoming traffic. Baird was heading to Martinsville, Ill., to spend Christmas with his mother and family, his ex-wife, Diane, said yesterday. He then planned to go to Chicago for a paddock sale. “He was driven; this was his passion,” she said. “He loved the horse racing, the trading, the selling, the training, the going to different sales and buying. He didn't want to do anything more than that.” Baird trained in West Virginia since the 1960s. “He set the standard for the industry,” said Tamara Pettit, a spokeswoman for the Mountaineer Casino, Racetrack & Resort in Chester, W.Va. “He was a very humble, down-to-earth person who was above all things . . . an absolute gentleman.” Baird was born in Martinsville and lived in Newell, W.Va. In his early years, he was dubbed the Wizard of Waterford when the track was known as Waterford. He was granted a Special Eclipse Award from the National Thoroughbred Racing Association in 2004. “They always called him a big fish in a small pond because he hardly raced anywhere else,” Diane Baird said.