Deputy Sought in Accident Surrenders

A Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputy surrendered to Hermosa Beach police Thursday morning after investigators found a vehicle he owns at the scene of a late-night accident--parked the wrong way on a one-way street.

Police issued a misdemeanor hit-and-run citation to Kristopher Buckner, 23, a deputy assigned to the Central Jail. Buckner denied that he was at the accident but did not elaborate further, said Hermosa Beach Police Cmdr. Anthony Altfeld.

Authorities said a brawl involving a group of men took place shortly before 2 a.m. Wednesday outside the Pitcher House bar on Pacific Coast Highway. Witnesses said four members of the group then piled into a black Chevrolet Blazer headed east on 1st Street, entered a one-way portion of the street and struck an oncoming car head-on. No injuries were reported.

Police arrested two men in the back seat of the Blazer for public intoxication and arrested a third passenger on the same charge after finding him hiding in a back yard nearby. Police said the driver had fled the scene.

When police investigators ran the Blazer’s registration through the Department of Motor Vehicles’ computer, they learned it was registered to Buckner and the address listed was that of the Sheriff’s Department headquarters.

No charges were filed in connection with the brawl outside the bar because everyone involved was too intoxicated to make any positive identifications, police said. Two men in the fight were treated for minor injuries.