Woman Testifies She Helped Pair Dupe Police in Fatal Crash

Under a grant of immunity, a woman testified Thursday that she helped a father and son dupe police about who was driving the father’s sports car in an accident that killed a 17-year-old bicyclist.

Linda Eder of Laguna Hills testified in Orange County Superior Court that on the night of the accident, Sept. 8, 1987, she received a call from Gary Haw, 25, of Laguna Niguel. Haw was driving a Porsche 911 that struck and killed Jason Theodore Klein of Laguna Hills. Haw is charged with vehicular manslaughter, hit-and-run, conspiracy to commit a hit-and-run and giving false information to a police officer.

His father, Ronald Haw, 49, of Culver City, was not involved in the accident but is charged with conspiracy to commit a felony hit-and-run, accessory after the fact and giving false information to a police officer, a misdemeanor.

After the accident, the Haws allegedly concocted an elaborate story that put the father behind the wheel because the family’s insurance did not cover the son.

However, they admitted the scheme the next day when pressed by California Highway Patrol Officer Brian R. Dean, who also testified at the trial Thursday in Newport Beach.

Eder said Gary Haw called her immediately after the accident and asked her to come to the scene on Alicia Parkway near a shopping center in Laguna Hills. “He told me that the kid on the bike was dead,” she said.

Eder said she drove to a nearby gas station to meet Haw. When he arrived, he gave her instructions to pass on to his father, whom she was to meet down the street. Haw said he had already telephoned his father, she said.

“I was to tell his father that he, Mr. Haw, was (to confess to police that he) was driving the car,” Eder testified. Eder also said Gary Haw told her to instruct his father to tell police that he was driving in the middle lane and to act “disoriented and confused” when talking to officers.

Eder then met the elder Haw as he approached the scene in a car with other family members, she said. She took him to a nearby park, where he was to wait in mock bewilderment. He was to tell police that he had lost his way after leaving the scene of the accident to get help, Eder said.

However, the next day, when Dean told the Haws that a witness had identified Gary as the driver, the scheme fell apart and the Haws admitted lying, Dean testified.

“He (Gary) thought if he could put his dad behind the wheel, the insurance would take care of the damage to the Porsche,” Dean said.

Gary Haw’s attorney, Paul Meyer, said the false story was a case of “an immature son trying to get dad to help him out. It was dumb.”

Meyer contended that the accident was “unavoidable,” regardless of who was driving.

He said the bicyclist darted out in traffic and was blocked from view by a van.

The CHP accident report is expected to be introduced Monday when the trial resumes. In it, police estimate that the Porsche was traveling 65 to 70 m.p.h. when it hit the bicyclist, throwing him 300 feet, CHP Officer Patrick Barnard said.

The speed limit on Alicia Parkway is 45 m.p.h.

“It looks like it was way too fast,” Barnard said. “If it had been at the speed limit, there wouldn’t have been that much damage to the vehicle.” The Porsche was badly damaged, he said.

The Haws have waived their right to a jury trial. Instead, Superior Court Judge James K. Turner will hear testimony and decide on a verdict.

If convicted, Gary Haw faces a possible four-year sentence. His father could be sentenced to three years in prison.