Jan-Michael Vincent Injured in Accident

Actor Jan-Michael Vincent was hospitalized with a broken neck in South County on Monday after accidentally rear-ending his girlfriend’s Cadillac and hitting a traffic signal, sheriff’s officials said.

Vincent, 52, was following his girlfriend, 28-year-old Nicole Wallace, to her mother’s house near Lake Mission Viejo at 4:30 p.m. when his 1988 Mazda crashed into the back of her 1985 Cadillac as she slowed to make a turn, Sheriff’s Lt. Lynn Nehring said. Vincent’s car then spun out of control and struck the signal.

Wallace and two sons, ages 5 and 6, who were in the Cadillac, were not injured, Nehring said.

Vincent and Wallace live in Coto de Caza, a short distance from the scene of the accident at Alicia Parkway at Finisterra.

The extent of Vincent’s injuries were unknown Monday, but Nehring said they were not life-threatening. He was reported to be in the intensive care unit of Mission Hospital Regional Medical Center with a broken neck, Nehring said.

The accident is under investigation, he said.

Vincent, who most recently co-starred in the low budget 1995 film, “The Ice Cream Man,” had been in television series such as “Dragnet” and the children’s series “The Banana Splits Adventure Hour.”

In 1984, he starred in the CBS series “Airwolf,” in which he operated a helicopter while doing good deeds and searching for his missing brother. The show lasted through the 1986 season; its demise partly was due to the star’s cocaine abuse.

After a period of rehabilitation, Vincent returned to make several TV movies.

In 1995, a Van Nuys Superior Court judge granted a $374,000 default judgment against him to his former live-in girlfriend, 33-year-old Lisa Marie Chiafullo.

Chiafullo, a former model, sued the actor in April 1995, claiming he had physically assaulted her after their breakup and caused her to miscarry their child. Chiafullo claimed she was unable to work because of the injuries. Vincent failed to show up for the trial and mounted no defense in his behalf.