Huntington Beach : Officer’s Son Held in Woman’s Traffic Death

The 21-year-old son of a city Police Department officer was being held in jail Tuesday on suspicion of manslaughter and felony drunk driving after his car struck and fatally injured a woman pushing her bicycle beside the road, authorities said.

Stacy Moskewich, 19, of Huntington Beach, a rock band guitarist, was walking south on Edwards Street just south of Talbert Street at 4:30 p.m. Monday when the car hit her, Police Sgt. James Cutshaw said.

She was taken to Fountain Valley Regional Medical Center with major head and internal injuries and died at 3 a.m. Tuesday.

The driver, 21-year-old Randy W. Dahlke of Huntington Beach, was booked into the city’s jail Monday on suspicion of felony drunk driving. On Tuesday, after Moskewich died, police said they would seek an additional charge of vehicular manslaughter against Dahlke at the time of his arraignment.

Traffic officers are continuing to investigate the accident.

Moskewich, who played bass guitar in the rock band Bell Jar, was due at a band recording session Monday night, band manager Jim Palmer said Tuesday.

The other three band members were not immediately concerned when Moskewich failed to arrive because “we were just recording (Brian Way’s) guitar leads and we thought she probably decided she didn’t need to be there,” Palmer said.

The group performed regularly at original-music clubs in the county and released a five-song mini-album in 1986 titled “Beginnings of Ends.” They were at work on a second album.

The band members have not discussed whether they will continue the group, Palmer said.

Dahlke is the son of Huntington Beach Officer Dennis Dahlke, a patrol officer. The younger Dahlke has no prior arrests or convictions for driving under the influence, according to Department of Motor Vehicle records.