A 30-year-old man has been arrested on suspicion of DUI in connection with a crash Monday when he allegedly drove his pickup truck into a tree in Bridgeport, sending both he and a toddler to the hospital.
The midday collision on Bridgeport at McBean Parkway was a case of suspected drunk driving, according to Shirley Miller, spokeswoman for the SCV Sheriff’s Station, on the station’s Facebook page.
Kevin Hussain, of Saugus, was arrested at 2:30 p.m. Monday, a couple of hours after the crash by deputies with the Santa Clarita Valley Sheriff’s Station.
Hussain was arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence of alcohol causing injury. The truck smashed into a tree in Bridgeport, shearing a water main and sending at least 15,000 gallons of water down the drain.
A traffic investigator was expected today to present the case against Hussain to prosecutors of the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office, Sgt. Scott Shoemaker, who heads the SCV Sheriff’s Traffic Unit, told The Signal on Wednesday.
The investigator interviewed people including an off-duty officer who saw the crash happen.
At day’s end Wednesday, according to Miller, prosecutors announced they would be pursuing seven criminal charges against Hussain including: felony DUI with prior (convictions); child endangerment; hit and run with Injuries; driving under the influence with prior DUI conviction; hit and run property; driving with a suspended license; and driving without an interlock device.
“Deputies found a toddler in a carseat in the vehicle. The father is not only facing DUI charges, but felony child endangerment charges too,” Miller wrote on her Facebook post.
“Sad to say, this incident was not the driver’s first DUI arrest. We are thankful that the toddler is going to be okay, and we hope the father gets the help he needs,” she said.
“Parents are supposed to be the principal protectors of their children’s lives, not put them in harm’s way,” she said.
On the day of the crash, paramedics with the Los Angeles County Fire Department responded to reports of a traffic collision on Bridgeport Lane and McBean Parkway shortly after noon, Fire Department spokeswoman Vanessa Lozano told The Signal.
Deputies with the Santa Clarita Valley Sheriff’s Station also responded to the crash, as did officials with the Santa Clarita Valley Water Agency.
Firefighters arriving at the crash found the truck wedged against the tree on the driver’s side,with airbags deployed.
“The child (who appeared to be about 2 years old) was out of the vehicle when we arrived,” one firefighter told The Signal. “The crash was on the driver’s side, so (the driver) was able to climb over the console,” he said. “Deputies (with SCV Sheriff’s Station) got the child out on the passenger side. They pulled the child to safety. The child was uninjured.”
The firefighter said the driver hit a “main feed valve,” which released a gusher of water.
Michael Alvord, director of operations and maintenance for the SCV Water Agency, called the broken water mechanism an “air and vacuum valve.”
“We estimate between 15,000 and 20,000 gallons of water was released,” he said, noting the water escaped during a 30-minute period.
“The sheriff’s deputies got the guy out of the vehicle,” Alvord said. “So, from the time it hit the tree to the time we shut the valve off it was a half-hour.”
Monday’s arrest marks the eighth time Hussain has been arrested since 2006, according to Los Angeles County Superior Court records.
On three occasions — once in 2010, and twice in 2011 — he pleaded no contest to having an illegal amount of alcohol in his blood when driving a vehicle.
Then on June 2, 2015, Hussain was convicted of driving under the influence of alcohol at San Fernando Superior Court.
He remains in custody with bail set at $100,000.
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