Driver in rollover collision arrested

Lolita Harper

A 21-year-old Costa Mesa man was arrested on suspicion of drunken

driving after a Friday night accident that left his friend in

critical condition with a fractured skull, police said Saturday.

William Bunnet, who was driving the Chevrolet Tahoe that rolled

over near the intersection of Paularino Avenue and Jian Way on

Friday, was booked on suspicion of driving under the influence of

alcohol after he allegedly ran a red light and struck a BMW sedan on

the way home from a skiing trip, Costa Mesa Sgt. Phil Myer said.

Because of the accident, his friend, 19-year-old Montgomery Evan

Burten of Costa Mesa, remains in critical condition at Western

Medical Center in Santa Ana with serious injuries to his skull,

officials said.

Burten was pinned under the SUV after being ejected from it during

the accident. The Tahoe was headed westbound on Paularino Avenue at

about 6:15 p.m. when it hit the front end of a BMW 7-series sedan in

the intersection of Jian Way, police said. The SUV skidded and rolled

onto the sidewalk, where paramedics worked to free Burten from

underneath the vehicle.

The driver of the BMW was not injured and refused treatment at the

scene, Costa Mesa Fire Department officials said Friday.

Officers found beer caps at the scene of the accident and

immediately suspected alcohol was a factor. Bunnet had been taken to

Western Medical for treatment of minor injuries and it was there that

officers placed him under arrest, said Costa Mesa Police Cpl. Mark

Manly. Bunnet was held at the hospital in the on-site jail, manned by

the Orange County Sheriff’s Department.

The driver is expected to be arraigned Tuesday in Harbor Justice

Center’s Superior Court in Newport Beach, officials said. The

severity of his sentencing, if found guilty, depends largely on

Burten’s condition.

This rollover marks the second accident involving a suspected

drunken driver in the city in less than two days. Early Friday

morning, a Laguna Beach man died after being hit by a Mitsubishi

Eclipse outside the popular Pierce Street Annex nightclub on 17th

Street.

The driver in the 17th Street accident, 22-year-old Pawel

Stanislaw Wiater, was arrested on suspicion of felony drunken driving

and vehicular manslaughter.