Man who jumped in sea is guilty of DUI

A Costa Mesa man who had to be rescued by a lifeguard boat when authorities said he tried to escape by swimming into the ocean after hitting a woman with his car while driving drunk in Newport Beach has pleaded guilty to charges stemming from the incident.

James Arlen Peterson, 32, pleaded guilty in Orange County Superior Court on Monday to one felony count of driving under the influence of alcohol and causing injury and one felony count of hit and run with injury with a prior DUI conviction. He also was convicted of driving under the influence of alcohol in 2003.

A judge sentenced Peterson to 163 days in jail, three years of probation and ordered him to complete alcohol education programs. His driver’s license has also been revoked for the duration of his probation.

Peterson was driving down Balboa Boulevard about 5 p.m. July 10 when he turned onto 30th Street at a high rate of speed, where a 48-year-old woman was standing next to the open driver’s-side door of her vehicle, parked legally on the side of the street, according to the Orange County district attorney’s office.

Peterson sped up as he approached the woman, who tried to move out of the way, prosecutors said. Peterson hit the woman’s hip with his car, slamming her into her vehicle, according to prosecutors.

He tried a three-point turn after the accident, but eventually backed up to the water when he was unable to get out of the street, prosecutors said.

— Brianna Bailey