Driver Accused of Manslaughter : Charges Filed in Death of Bicyclist, 17

A Laguna Niguel auto salesman who allegedly hit and killed a bicyclist and then pretended his father had been driving the car has been charged with misdemeanor vehicular manslaughter and felony hit-and-run, the Orange county district attorney’s said.

If convicted, Gary Haw, 24, will face a maximum sentence of four years in jail, Deputy Dist. Atty. James P. Marion said Tuesday. Haw is also charged with reckless driving and making false statements to police.

Haw’s father, Ronald Haw, 47, who has been charged with assisting his son in the commission of a felony, faces a maximum three-year sentence.

Jason Klein, 17, of Laguna Hills was killed on Sept. 8 when he turned into Gary Haw’s path on Alicia Parkway near a Laguna Hills shopping center, police said. Klein was thrown 300 feet by the impact, which shattered the front end of Ronald Haw’s 1986 Porsche 911.

Gary Haw initially told California Highway Patrol Officer Brian Dean that he was a passenger in the car and that his father was driving at 45 m.p.h. when Klein drove in front of them. He said his father had been dazed by the impact and had wandered off. Following a ground and air search, the elder Haw was found. Dean was bothered by inconsistencies in the Haws’ account, and the next day he called Ronald Haw to remind him that giving false evidence to a peace officer was against the law.

Later that day, the two men phoned the CHP and admitted that Gary Haw had been driving the $80,000 car, which was not covered for drivers under the age of 25. In an interview, Gary Haw said that he panicked and that “a morbid thought came into my mind. The kid (Klein) was negligent. The only way to get anyone to pay for this is to sue the parents’ insurance company.” Neither Haw could be reached for comment Tuesday.

The car was traveling at 70 m.p.h. when Klein was hit, according to the police report.

“The CHP did a very thorough job,” Marion said. “The CHP investigating officer should be commended.”

Although the CHP recommended that Gary Haw be charged with felony manslaughter, Marion said, the lesser charges “were the appropriate ones. We thought that’s what we could prove.”

The Haws are scheduled to be arraigned Oct. 28 in South Orange County Municipal Court.