Arrestee in Crash That Hurt Boy Has Long Record : Courts: Dana Point parolee has been cited six times for driving with a suspended license, has a string of traffic offenses and was imprisoned on a drug conviction.

John Eric Phelps, who is accused of crashing a stolen Mercedes into another car Monday and critically injuring a 7-year-old boy, has been cited at least six times for driving with a suspended license and has been in at least two other crashes, according to court and Department of Motor Vehicle records.

Phelps, 31, of Dana Point also has an eight-year court record that includes a drug felony conviction in Hawaii, a vandalism conviction in Laguna Beach, a string of minor traffic convictions and two civil suits resulting from accidents.

Phelps’ father, John D. Phelps of south Orange County, said he and his wife were devastated by the news of Monday’s accident and the injury to the 7-year-old.

“I prayed all night for him,” he said. “I hurt for that little boy.”

Phelps said he has not had contact with his son for a long time.

“Drugs have totally screwed his life up,” Phelps said. “This kid came from a good family. . . . It’s a sad situation,” he said. “But don’t you ever think this couldn’t happen to you.”

Phelps said he made no excuses for his son’s role in the collision: “Whatever Johnny gets, he deserves.”

Monday’s collision took place after an off-duty Laguna Beach police officer spotted a stolen Mercedes 450 going about 100 m.p.h. northbound on the Santa Ana Freeway at Laguna Canyon Road, police said. The motorcycle office said he pursued the Mercedes with his lights flashing and siren sounding until the car exited the freeway at Jeffrey Road.

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Minutes later, the Mercedes collided with a Peugot station wagon driven by Cheryl McGee, as her car crossed Jeffrey on Irvine Center Road. Witnesses told police the Mercedes ran a red light. Cheryl McGee and her daughter were uninjured, but 7-year-old Trent suffered serious head injuries.

Phelps was captured six hours later after a door-to-door search of a nearby residential area.

Trent remained in critical condition Tuesday night. Phelps is held without bail at the Orange County Jail on suspicion of felony hit-and-run, evading arrest, grand theft auto, reckless driving and other charges, Irvine Police Lt. Sam Allevato said.

At the time of Monday’s collision, Phelps was wanted by state officials for avoiding parole officials after failing a drug test earlier this spring, according to Art Lucero, a Department of Corrections spokesman.

Phelps served two years in prison in Hawaii for cocaine possession in 1990-92, after being arrested at an airport, Lucero said. When his prison term was completed, he asked to be paroled to Orange County, where he was reared.

Before this spring, Lucero said “we had a couple of incidents” regarding Phelps’ parole, but nothing serious. Then, in April, Phelps failed a mandatory drug test.

“We got a dirty test from this guy, and he knew it, and he split on us,” avoiding his parole agent, Lucero said. “So we informed Hawaii officials that we lost track of this guy. We were in the process of requesting a warrant.”

In the days before the collision, Phelps was scheduled for two separate, traffic-related court appearances, which he did not make. Bench warrants were issued for him in two separate Orange County Municipal courts.

In the late 1980s, Phelps was the defendant in two lawsuits filed in Orange County Superior Court involving traffic accidents that resulted in injuries.

The first occurred on Dec. 31, 1987, in Dana Point, when two people were injured when they were hit by a borrowed Mercedes driven by Phelps, according to the suit. That case was settled with the owners of the car and dismissed. The attorney for the Mercedes’ owners said that Phelps could not be found to be served with court papers and was not included in the settlement.

In the second suit, it was alleged in court documents that Phelps was driving a Porsche that struck a diaper truck on Oct. 12, 1988, in Laguna Beach. The second case was also dismissed, according to court documents, when Phelps could not be located.

Dennis Burgess, 48, of Orange, driver of the truck, said the collision occurred on a blind curve on Canyon View Drive.

“I flew up in the air, and was tossed like a BB and came down on a piece of wood and injured my back.”

After both vehicles came to rest, Burgess shouted at Phelps to make sure Phelps wasn’t dead, because the Porsche “was just totaled,” he said.

“I hollered out the window, ‘Are you alive?’ And, this guy kicks the door open of his car and shakes his head like the $6-million man,” Burgess said. “He said, ‘I gotta make a phone call.’ And he ran down the street.”

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Burgess said he wanted to file a lawsuit against Phelps, but he couldn’t be found.

“He just went underground,” Burgess said.

Phelps was charged with failing to stop at the scene of an accident. He pleaded guilty to a lesser charge of driving with a suspended or revoked license and was sentenced to 10 days in jail and three years’ probation.

Two days after the collision with Burgess, Phelps was cited for driving with a suspended license. According to cases on file at the Municipal Court in Laguna Niguel, Phelps has been cited repeatedly since the late 1980s for driving while his license was suspended or revoked.

That happened most recently on May 27 on Marina Hills Drive in Laguna Niguel. He was also charged with failing to stop for a sheriff’s deputy who had turned on his siren.

Phelps missed a July 8 appearance on those charges, and a $25,000 bench warrant was issued for his arrest on Friday.

Times staff writer Rene Lynch contributed to this story.