Briefly In Public Safety

Teacher arrested for possession

Newport Beach police arrested Huntington Beach teacher George James Vilagut, 47, on suspicion of cocaine possession for sales and possession of a loaded firearm with a controlled substance.

Police received tips that Vilagut was selling drugs and watched his house in Huntington Beach, Newport Beach police Sgt. Evan Sailor said.

Through the surveillance, the department was able to obtain a search warrant and found a bag with 150 grams of cocaine in Vilagut’s bedroom closet and four smaller bags around the house, Sailor said.

“That’s a very large amount,” he said.

“Definitely, a lot more than for personal consumption.”

Officers also found a digital scale, prescription pills and a loaded gun, which violates health and safety laws because it was near the drugs, Sailor said.

Vilagut was arrested at 9 a.m. Friday in his home and posted the $25,000 bail at 1:30 p.m, officials said. When he was arrested, he listed his occupation as a teacher for a Huntington Beach school district.

Vilagut is listed as a substitute business teacher for the Huntington Beach Union High School District.

Man pleads guilty to manslaughter

Youn Bum Lee, 42, a former Irvine resident who fled the country after killing a Fountain Valley man while drinking and driving pleaded guilty Tuesday to one felony count of vehicular manslaughter by unlawful act with gross negligence while intoxicated and to a sentencing enhancement for fleeing the scene of the crime.

Lee consumed several alcoholic drinks at a company dinner with Fountain Valley’s Hyundai Motor America and then at a karaoke bar Oct. 18, 2005.

He got into his black company-issued Hyundai sports utility vehicle after midnight and drove with his headlights off on the freeway. Lee crashed into the center median, rolling his car backward and stopping near Dyer Road on the 55 Freeway.

Ryan Dallas Cook, 23, was riding his motorcycle in the carpool lane and was unable to stop in time. Cook hit Lee’s SUV and was thrown onto the freeway, where he was run over by several cars. Cook was pronounced dead at the scene.

Lee fled and, later in the morning, consulted a co-worker and supervisor, who drove him to the airport. Lee was arrested on a fugitive warrant in Seoul, South Korea, in December and was extradited to Orange County Jan. 30. He is expected to be sentenced to nine years in state prison at 1:30 p.m. Dec. 7 in Room C-5 of the Central Justice Center in Santa Ana.

— Britney Barnes