Dogs Track Alleged Drunk Driver Who Fled Fatal Crash
A suspected drunk driver left his dead passenger at the scene of a car crash early Friday but was arrested about three hours later when bloodhounds tracked his scent to a gas station two miles away in Dana Point, police said.
Michael Louis Bondiek, 39, a business consultant from Lake Forest, was held on suspicion of vehicular manslaughter, hit-and-run and driving under the influence after police found him at a Chevron station.
Police said Bondiek smashed his Mercedes 560 SEC into a tree about 2:15 a.m. while headed west on Crown Valley Parkway, killing his passenger. Authorities estimated the gray coupe was going 90 mph when it slid out of control, jumped a curb and slammed into the tree. The passenger was killed instantly.
Bondiek allegedly fled on foot. Police said bloodhounds tracked the driver’s scent to the gas station at the Monarch Bay Plaza on Pacific Coast Highway. , The name of the passenger was not released by authorities.
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