Man Fleeing From Police Kills Motorist

A suspected bank robber fleeing from police crashed broadside into a car at between 80 and 100 m.p.h. Thursday, killing that driver immediately, police said.

David M. Hungerford Jr., 57, of Tustin was driving to work when a van speeding on the wrong side of the street careened into his car.

The driver of the van was allegedly fleeing a robbery at Guardian Savings and Loan in the 17000 block of Beach Boulevard in Huntington Beach, police Lt. Ed McErlain said.

Witnesses told police that about 9:30 a.m., one man had entered the bank and escaped with an undisclosed amount of cash. No one saw a weapon, said bank spokeswoman Irene Kennedy, and no one in the bank was hurt.

Witnesses said the robber left in a blue Chevy van, McErlain said. Moments later, a parking patrol officer in an unmarked car saw what he believed to be the get-away van on Beach Boulevard.

“He heard the call and spotted the vehicle,” McErlain said. “He didn’t chase the car, but he followed it until a helicopter and two police units arrived.”

Seeing the police cars, the driver tried to elude them, leading police on a six-mile chase, McErlain said.

At one point, a patrol car on Warner Avenue tried to block his path but failed, he said.

Moments later, “the driver of the van was racing down Springdale on the wrong side of the street at speeds estimated at 100 miles per hour and hit the car attempting to make a left turn broadside,” McErlain said.

The van continued spinning and careened into a truck in which two people were traveling.

Students from Claremont High School, a private school at McFadden Avenue and Springdale Street, heard the crash and saw the van from their second-floor classroom. Some also watched as police chased the van driver into the school parking lot.

“I heard this loud noise and knew it was a bad crash,” said Jesse Moen, 16. “I saw the (van) spinning as it hit the back of the yellow truck after hitting the blue car.”

Ben Brasier, also 16, added that “the guy was out of the van before it stopped moving.”

He also said he saw money fall from the man’s possession as he was cornered and pinned by police officers.

As investigators scoured the scene for evidence, 20-year-old David Pohl approached the blue Chrysler with its dead driver still inside.

Visibly shaken, he asked police if the man’s name was Hungerford. When the officer nodded, the young man became upset.

“I was just passing by and recognized the car,” said Pohl, who worked with Hungerford at Martec Environmental Services. “He was super, super nice people.”

Jerry Pionessa, the operations manager at Martec Environmental Services, said Hungerford had asked to arrive late in order to take care of some personal business.

“He was on his way here when the accident happened,” Pionessa said. “He was a good person.”

The van driver, Matua Mongo Rushing, 21, of Los Angeles, was arrested on suspicion of murder and bank robbery and held at the Huntington Beach Jail, McErlain said. Bail is set at $250,000.

The two men in the truck were slightly injured. Silvano Rodriguez, 33, was treated at the scene and Jose Robles, 25, was taken to Pacifica Community Hospital, where he was in stable condition.

Some of the neighbors expressed anger at the number of crimes and traffic accidents occurring in their city in the past month.

David McFarline, 31, said he had just dropped off his younger brother at a local school.

“Can you imagine what a nightmare it would have been if it had happened just one hour earlier when the students were arriving?” he asked.

David Rutherford, the dean of students at Claremont High School, said it was the second serious accident to occur at that intersection in the past month.

“This is a very dangerous intersection,” Rutherford said. “Luckily, we have a closed campus and keep our students in during lunch and recess.”

Assemblyman Tom Mays (R-Huntington Beach) was among the drivers on Springdale Street on Thursday morning who saw the fleeing car being chased by police.

“They went right by me,” Mays said, adding that he did not see the crash a few minutes later that ended the chase.