County Increases Supervision of Drunk-Driving Programs

Prompted by allegations that a Van Nuys drunk-driving treatment program falsified completion certificates, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors established a panel Tuesday to improve supervision of more than 130 similar programs countywide.

Without discussion, the board, acting on a motion from Supervisor Mike Antonovich, voted unanimously to create a seven-member panel that will include representatives from alcohol treatment and education programs.

The group is expected to hold its first meeting in September and issue annual recommendations to improve the county’s system of reviewing drunk-driving programs. About 50,000 people attend privately run programs each year as part of the court-ordered penalty for drunk driving.

The county reviews the programs four times a year. Two of the visits are unannounced.

“I think we’ve done everything we can with what we have available to us,” said George Weir, chief of the drinking driver referral program in the county Department of Health Services.

The county’s six monitors have no law enforcement training, Weir said. “Perhaps we need to do that. But I would hate to create a whole new division for what might be a unique situation.”

July Accident

The board’s action stems from a July 16 accident in which two people were killed and the driver, Harry Bouboushian, 34, of Los Angeles, was charged with murder and felony drunk driving.

The crash occurred three days after Bouboushian received a certificate from Driver Safety Schools of Van Nuys showing that he had completed a one-year treatment program after a previous drunk-driving conviction.

Los Angeles Police Officer C. Sanchez said the school’s records indicate that Bouboushian was given the certificate before he completed the program. Authorities are investigating whether other clients received improper certificates. The school is also being investigated by the county, the state Department of Motor Vehicles and the California Department of Alcohol and Drug Programs.

Meanwhile, county officials are referring the 800 people enrolled in the Van Nuys school to other court-ordered drunk-driving programs, shutting down the school. The county has also stopped new referrals to six other programs run by Driver Safety Schools, Weir said.

Morse Taylor, an attorney for the driving schools, said the county has overreacted to the situation and deprived his client of due process. “We’ve been tried, convicted, sentenced and shot before we’ve had a chance to answer the allegations against us,” Taylor said.

Bouboushian received his certificate three weeks early but completed all the necessary work, Taylor said.

There was one case, discovered last week by the school’s owner, Arnold Abrams, in which a counselor sold a certificate for about $300 to a client who never attended the program, Taylor said. Abrams had already fired the counselor before learning of the incident, Taylor said.