Driver Arrested in Death of Passenger
A suspected drunk driver who had left his dead passenger at the scene of a car accident early Friday 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 drunk driving.
Police said Bondiek smashed his Mercedes-Benz into a tree about 2:15 a.m. while headed west on Crown Valley Parkway, killing his passenger. Authorities estimated that the car was going 90 mph.
“Some part of the tree came inside the car and hit the passenger in the head, killing him instantly,” said Sgt. Steve Doan, spokesman for the Orange County Sheriff’s Department.
Bondiek got out of the car and fled, authorities said.
Bloodhounds tracked his scent to a Chevron station at Monarch Bay Plaza on Pacific Coast Highway, arriving as an attendant was calling police to report that a man covered with blood was hanging around the station.
The name of the passenger was not released.
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