Driver Arrested : Firefighter Hit by Car While Cleaning Street

An Orange County firefighter cleaning up the scene of a fatal traffic accident in Laguna Hills sustained serious injuries when he was struck and hurled 27 feet by a car late Tuesday night, authorities said.

Moments after firefighter Steven Herndon, 35, was struck, California Highway Patrol officers captured Larry Barley, 27, of Mission Viejo and arrested him on suspicion of felony drunk driving and hit-and-run, CHP Officer Ken Daily said.

Officers said Herndon had been hosing down the pavement near the scene of a fatal accident on Avenida de Carlota near Ridge Route Drive about 11:10 p.m. when he was knocked over by the car. Daily said Barley’s car had passed through a flare pattern and between a fire truck and CHP patrol car before reaching the firefighter.

Motorcyclist Killed

In the earlier accident, which occurred about 10:20 p.m. Tuesday, Jeanette E. Pincus, 75, of Laguna Hills, turned left into the path of a motorcycle, fatally injuring the motorcycle rider, Daily said. Paramedics declared Benjamin Culberson, 22, a Marine stationed at the Marine Corps Air Station in El Toro, dead at the scene. Pincus was not cited, but the investigation is continuing, Daily said. He said Pincus claimed she did not see the motorcycle because its headlamp was not on.

Barley, a cook at a restaurant in El Toro, was being held Wednesday on $10,000 bail at the Orange County Jail.

Daily said witnesses estimated that Barley’s car was traveling 40 to 45 m.p.h. when it struck Herndon. The car reportedly slowed but did not stop before it proceeded southbound on Avenida de Carlota. CHP officers who were investigating the earlier accident stopped the car about half a mile down the road and arrested Barley, Daily said.

Herndon, suffered a broken leg and head and chest injuries, authorities said. He was flown by helicopter to Mission Community Hospital in Mission Viejo, where he was listed in serious but stable condition after three hours of surgery, authorities said.