Man arrested after Orange DUI crash kills H.B. motorcyclist; coroner IDs rider killed in H.B. accident

A Long Beach man was arrested Tuesday on suspicion of vehicular manslaughter following a DUI collision in Orange that killed a Huntington Beach motorcyclist, and coroner’s officials Friday were still working to notify the victim’s family.

Officers with the Orange Police Department were called to a stretch of The City Drive, near the I-5 freeway, at 10:15 p.m. Tuesday, where a Harley Davidson motorcycle collided with a Toyota SUV that was attempting to exit the freeway, according to a news release issued Wednesday.

The driver of the motorcycle was pronounced dead at the scene. The Orange County coroner’s office on Friday had not yet released the man’s name, pending notification of next of kin. Police reported the victim was an adult male from Huntington Beach.

A preliminary investigation determined the motorcyclist failed to stop at a red light, resulting in the collision. However, the driver of the Toyota remained on scene, where it was determined he had been driving under the influence.

Eric Paul Granit, 50, of Long Beach was booked at the Orange County Jail for vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated. Granit was released from the Men’s Intake Center on Wednesday afternoon after posting bond, according to an online prison inmate locator maintained by the sheriff’s department.

Stanton man killed in Huntington Beach crash

Meanwhile, another motorcyclist killed in a collision on Huntington Beach’s Beach Boulevard Wednesday was identified Friday by the Orange County coroner’s office as Timothy Bertram, 54, of Stanton.

Bertram was riding a Harley Davidson on Beach Boulevard, just north of Adams Avenue shortly before 4:30 p.m., when a Toyota SUV driven by a 90-year-old Huntington Beach man took a left turn across northbound lanes of traffic, striking the motorcycle, police reported.

The Stanton man was pronounced dead at the scene, marking the second motorcycle fatality to occur in Huntington Beach in an 11-day period.

Meghan Wautlet, 22, of Huntington Beach, died on Sept. 11 after the Harley Davidson, on which she was a passenger, collided with a vehicle making a legal U-turn on Pacific Coast Highway near Bolsa Chica State Beach.

Tuesday’s DUI collision is being investigated by Orange Police Department’s Major Accident Investigation Team. Anyone who may have witnessed the incident or the events leading up to it is encouraged to call the Orange Police Department at (714) 744-7444.

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