HUNTINGTON BEACH : Drunk-Driving Suspect Released

A Huntington Beach man booked on suspicion of drunk driving after a collision that critically injured his passenger was released from County Jail on Monday.

The couple were returning from a Greenpeace rally Saturday when the accident happened at 4:30 p.m.

Daniel Whitaker, 24, who had borrowed a friend’s 1989 Corvette, was driving about 60 m.p.h. when he apparently lost control of the car on Huntington Avenue at Utica Street, striking an oncoming car and five parked cars, Police Lt. Gary Davis said.

Whitaker was taken to UCI Medical Center with head injuries, and transferred Sunday to County Jail.

His passenger, Kelly Ickes, 24, also of Huntington Beach, was also taken to UCI Medical Center, where she was in critical condition with three gashes on her head and a broken nose. She was released Monday in fair condition, but will require reconstructive facial surgery, said her sister, Lindsey Ickes.

The couple had attended a 12:30 p.m. Greenpeace rally at the Lake Street lifeguard station.

The rally drew a crowd of about 200 people, who listened to four speeches by a coalition of Los Angeles-based environmental groups. The speakers and pickets criticized the government’s offshore oil drilling policy.

Lindsey Ickes said her sister, an accountant, is not a Greenpeace activist but is merely interested in the plight of Huntington Beach since a recent oil spill marred the popular stretch of coastline.

“She is always real busy working and doesn’t have a lot of time to get involved in things,” the sister said. “She was just there as a concerned resident.”

Lindsey Ickes did not know where her sister and Whitaker went after the rally.