$250,000 Bail Set for Man With 10 Drunk-Driving Convictions

A Pomona man awaiting trial on a drunk-driving charge was ordered held in lieu of $250,000 bail Thursday after a prosecutor disclosed that he had been convicted of the charge 10 times in the last eight years--five times within one three-month period.

The driving record of 43-year-old William R. Hilbert was later described by the prosecutor, Deputy Dist. Atty. Gary Hearnsberger, as “one of, if not the worst, I have ever come across.” Hilbert’s blood alcohol was measured at about three times the legal level of .10 in more than half the cases, he said.

The bail, set by a Municipal Court commissioner, is “extremely high” for an unresolved misdemeanor case, Hearnsberger acknowledged, but “is appropriate under circumstances that are extremely unusual.”

“I’ve never seen anything like this in terms of the elevated blood alcohol,” Hearnsberger said. “I cannot believe this guy hasn’t killed someone.”

Authorities said such a high bail in a case of this type is extremely unusual, though not unheard of. For example, an Encino man was held four years ago on $500,000 bail on a misdemeanor drunk-driving charge, but only after he had been given an unprecedented sentence of nine years and seven months on multiple convictions and indicated that he wanted to take his case to the Court of Appeals.

Hilbert, described on police reports as an unemployed former firefighter, has never been sentenced to more than two years and six months at one time. All of his known sentences together total five years and six months. It could not be determined Thursday how much time he has actually spent in jail.

Neither Hilbert nor his lawyer, Peter Alix, could be reached for comment.

In most of Hilbert’s cases, Hearnsberger said, his car either hit or barely missed another vehicle. In two of the cases, Hilbert barely avoided moving police cars as he drove on the wrong side of the road. In another instance, Hilbert was said by police to have been found passed out behind the wheel of his car, which had run into a curb and showed evidence of having been in an accident.

A state law that takes effect Sunday will prevent repeat drunk drivers from continuing to face only maximum two-year misdemeanor sentences, the prosecutor pointed out. Under the new law, a driver convicted three times can be charged with a felony.

The record of Hilbert’s convictions, most of which occurred in San Bernardino County, was discovered by the Los Angeles County district attorney’s office, Hearnsberger said, only after Hilbert was released on bail in November on an Oct. 2 drunk-driving arrest.

The records show that:

- Hilbert’s first conviction occurred in 1981, but prosecutors have not been able to determine what sentence, if any, he was given. Three more arrests occurred in 1982, two of those between Dec. 3 and Dec. 17.

- Between Dec. 3, 1982, and March 4, 1983, a period of three months, Hilbert was arrested five times. Those cases were consolidated and he received a sentence of two years and six months.

- Between 1984 and his last arrest this year, Hilbert was arrested three times on the charge and sentenced to a total of three years in jail.

Half of Hilbert’s convictions occurred after his license was revoked in 1983, Hearnsberger said, but he has never been convicted of driving on a revoked license. That may be because of plea bargaining, Hearnsberger said.

Agrees to High Bail

The records were presented to Pomona Municipal Court Commissioner Ronald Grey, who, at a special hearing Thursday, agreed that Hilbert’s bail should be raised to protect public safety.

“The drunk-driving law hasn’t kept him from drinking and driving; past jail terms haven’t stopped him,” Hearnsberger said. “From everything I can see, only locking him up will do that.”

In order to be released from Los Angeles County Jail before his Jan. 24 trial, Hilbert would have to deposit $250,000 in cash with the court or pay at least 10% of that amount to a bail bondsman. A cash bond to the court would be returned if he appears as ordered, but payment to a bail bondsman is non-returnable.