Pastor Seeks ‘Justice’ After Accident Recovery : Oxnard: Nearly killed by a suspected drunk driver, he faces a huge medical bill. Accused man remains free.

As he sat in a wheelchair and talked about his miraculous recovery, the Rev. Gerald Buxton made it clear he is not angry that the man accused of maiming him walks free today.

But he is not happy about it, either.

“Justice needs to be served,” said Buxton, who has spent the last four months at St. John’s Regional Medical Center in Oxnard recuperating from a debilitating accident.

On Aug. 6, the 62-year-old Pentecostal pastor was struck by a pickup truck and thrown 90 feet as he tended to his disabled 1974 Toyota Landcruiser on Oxnard Boulevard. Dozens of bones were broken, and doctors did not expect him to live.

Police arrested David Estey, 28, of Thousand Oaks on suspicion of felony drunk driving. A blood test showed Estey was legally drunk and had methamphetamine in his system, Deputy Dist. Atty. Don Grant said. But Estey has not been charged with any crime because prosecutors have twice sent the case back to police for further investigation.

“I have no animosity in my heart or hatred for him,” Buxton said. “But he needs to pay the dues I’m paying.”

Those dues include a $500,000 medical bill that Buxton’s insurance will not cover. He belongs to a consortium of pastors who share medical costs. But the pastors’ agreement does not include traffic accidents, Buxton said.

“If this bill were $20,000 or $30,000 I’d worry a lot more,” said Buxton’s wife, Shirley. “But a half million dollars is just too unreal.”

Shirley Buxton said she and her husband have applied for assistance from several governmental agencies.

The Buxtons have received no help from Estey, who was uninsured. Nor is the couple satisfied with what has been done to prosecute him.

“It’s frustrating,” she said. “It makes all of this much harder.”

Prosecutors said the case was returned to Oxnard police for more investigation shortly after the accident. The police report was resubmitted to the district attorney Wednesday after the Buxtons were questioned again about the accident.

But it was rejected a second time Thursday and sent back to police, prosecutor Grant said. “It’s just not ready for filing,” he said.

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Grant said he wants to file felony charges against Estey, but cannot do so until the police reconstruct the accident scene and establish where Buxton was standing when he was hit.

Oxnard Police OfficeW. Lumas said Buxton’s injuries played a large role in delaying the investigation. Because he was on a ventilator and had tubes in his throat, Buxton was unable to speak for nearly three months.

“His information is very critical to the case,” Lumas said. “We need to figure out where he was standing in the roadway.”

But the delay has frustrated the Buxtons further.

“I just don’t understand what difference it makes where my husband was standing,” Shirley Buxton said. “(Estey) was drunk.”

Buxton’s vehicle was stalled in the slow lane of Oxnard Boulevard when he was struck. Grant said it is possible Buxton is partly liable in the accident, depending on where he was in the road when hit. But Buxton said he does not remember where he was standing, and no one witnessed the accident.

Estey refused to comment on the case.

Through the entire ordeal, Buxton has amazed his doctors with his positive attitude. Doctors said Buxton should have been killed in the accident. Instead, he now hopes to walk again and plans to leave the hospital before Christmas.

“The accident didn’t affect my mind,” Buxton said. “God preserved my mind. That’s a miracle.”

He said he hopes to be back in his pulpit and before his 200 parishioners in Rialto next year. “He has a tremendous faith and a positive attitude, and I think that’s why he has come as far as he has come,” said George Yu, the physician who treated Buxton in the emergency room.

“Everything was broken,” Yu said. “He was bleeding profusely.”

He was not breathing either when Lorraine Heter rushed to Buxton’s crumpled body moments after the accident. Heter was across the street when, she said, she heard the tell-tale sound of metal crushing metal.

“I looked up and saw the reverend about four feet off the ground,” she said.

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For the next two months, nearly every day brought a new life-threatening crisis as Buxton remained in the intensive-care unit. He was paralyzed below the neck and internal organ-after-internal organ had problems, Yu said.

“There were all kinds of nasty things,” Yu said. “He should have died several times.”

Now the Buxtons are awaiting a Dec. 23 hospital release.

“I’m looking forward to leading a normal life again,” Shirley Buxton said. Like her husband, she said her religious faith and positive attitude have buoyed her through the tragedy.

Because of the couple’s spirit, Yu said he will not charge for his work over the past four months.

“This guy is now a friend of mine,” Yu said. “This is the least I can do for him.”