Driver Cited Days Before Fatal Crash, Lawyer Says

NEWPORT BEACH — The teenage designated driver charged with causing an accident that killed one Newport Harbor High School student and injured several others in May was ticketed for speeding along the same road only days before, prosecutors said Wednesday.

Jason Rausch, 18, received a ticket May 20 for driving 50 mph in a 25-mph zone on Irvine Avenue, Assistant Atty. Gen. James Dutton said during a preliminary hearing to determine whether Rausch should stand trial on charges of felony vehicular manslaughter and two misdemeanor counts of reckless driving. Dutton said the speeding ticket was issued at 3:30 p.m., as children were walking home from school.

But an engineer testifying on behalf of Rausch said the curves and hilly nature of Irvine Avenue were key factors in the crash May 23, adding that within the last 10 years there have been at least 51 accidents reported within 500 feet of the same spot where the vehicle Rausch was driving crashed.

Of those accidents, the majority were single-vehicle mishaps in which drivers lost control on the curves, possibly because of inadequate warning signs and uneven road banking, said San Bernardino engineer Harry J. Krueper.

“You’re cresting over the top of a hill and steering into a horizontal curve,” Krueper testified, adding other accidents probably have occurred but were not reported. “We can get into difficulty very easily.”

The preliminary hearing enters its fourth day today, with Superior Court Judge Everett W. Dickey imploring attorneys to complete this stage of an emotional legal drama that has been filling the courtroom all week with friends and relatives of Rausch and Donny Bridgman, who owned the Blazer and was killed in the crash.

Supporters of Rausch have been sitting on one side of the courtroom, while friends and relatives of Bridgman and passenger Daniel Townsend, who was injured along with cheerleader and homecoming queen Amanda Arthur, have taken the other.

Meanwhile, revelations and conflicting details about the night of accident have kept interest in the case high.

Krueper testified that the Chevy Blazer was traveling at 44 mph at the time of the crash, not 60 to 67 mph as prosecutors contend.

Krueper did not deny that Rausch had been driving faster than the posted speed limit of 35 mph. But he said the crash was caused by Rausch’s unfamiliarity with the modified Blazer, dangerous curves and the 10 teenagers packed inside who had altered the sport utility vehicle’s center of gravity, making handling more difficult.

“It makes it back-heavy and more prone to fish-tailing,” he said.

Defense attorney Jennifer Keller, probing the drinking on the night of the crash, established that the teens had a “beer bong,” used for rapidly drinking large quantities of beer, in the Blazer. Rausch, who has pleaded not guilty to the charges, abstained from drinking alcohol that night.

Testimony also showed the 1989 Blazer had defective brakes. A police mechanic’s inspection after the crash showed several problems with the front and rear brakes of the Blazer, including worn front brake pads and rear brake shoes that were installed backward.

Krueper said the deficient brakes could have affected handling, particularly if Rausch were unfamiliar with them.