Off-Duty Deputy Arrested in Fatal Crash

A Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputy was arrested early Sunday on suspicion of felony drunk driving after his car collided with another car outside a Lancaster nightclub, killing a 20-year-old Lancaster woman and injuring four women, sheriff’s deputies said.

Clarence M. Stewart III, 32, of Lancaster, who was off duty, was arrested at the scene, said Deputy Carrie Stuart.

“We know that he was intoxicated and any time we believe someone is intoxicated and there was a death resulting from an alcohol-related accident, it’s a felony,” Stuart said. Drunk driving is normally considered a misdemeanor except when a death occurs, she said.

According to deputies, the women were pulling out of the parking lot at Frankie’s Night Club about 2 a.m. Sunday when their Toyota Tercel was struck by Stewart’s car.

Deputies said they did not know how fast Stewart was driving. The busy four-lane road has a 55 mph speed limit.

Stuart said the Toyota’s driver also had been drinking, but hospital tests showed that her blood-alcohol level did not exceed the state’s 0.08% legal standard for intoxication.

The district attorney will decide whether other charges will be filed against Stewart, an 11-year veteran of the Sheriff’s Department, Stuart added.

The dead woman, who had not been identified pending notification of relatives, suffered massive injuries, said coroner’s Lt. Nils Linder. She was the only person in the crash who was not wearing a seat belt, he added.

Another woman in the Toyota had a fractured rib and was in fair condition at Antelope Valley Medical Center, hospital officials said. The other three were treated and released.

Stewart voluntarily took a blood-alcohol test at the scene, Stuart said, but results won’t be available until Tuesday.