John Hines, Long Beach Fire Captain, Arrested for Drunk Hit-and-Run After Plowing Into Seal Beach Bicyclist

By Simone Wilson Fri., Apr. 8 2011 at 7:40 AM

KTLA

Fire captain and alleged hit-and-runner John Hines

A Long Beach fire captain found himself on the other side of the bars this month after an alleged DUI hit-and-run in the wee hours of April Fool's Day.

KTLA reports that Seal Beach witnesses saw John Hines zooming down Westminster Avenue in his Chevy truck at about 1:30 a.m. -- when he allegedly swerved into the bike lane near Bolsa Chica Street and sent a bicyclist flying.

The victim suffered "major head trauma" from the hit.

According to KTLA:

Some of the witnesses followed the driver to a house in Huntington Beach.
John Hines, 38, was arrested and booked at the Seal Beach Police Department.

An investigation into the accident is now underway.

The Long Beach Fire Department isn't commenting on Hines' felony charges -- which include driving under the influence and leaving the scene of an accident.

[@simone_electra/swilson@laweekly.com]

Tags:

bicycling, drunk driving, DUI, firefighter, hit and run, John Hines, Long Beach Fire Department, Seal Beach

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Takeaction

People make mistakes. Its obvious he had a drinking problem and hopefully gets help. He made a big mistake and is an example of how alcohol destroys lives. We all know alcohol distorts our ability to make good decisions. Here you have a fireman who has an impecable record and made a HUGE error in judgement. Tragedy for everyone involved. I hope that people learn from this tragedy and think before they drink and drive. I pray for both parties involved. So sad....

Rodney

So the victim suffered major head trauma and Hines is only facing charges of driving under the influence and leaving the scene of an accident? Nothing about his reckless driving causing bodily injury to the bicyclist? What a shame! While I do understand that officers are human beings too and may make a mistake -- he really should have known better than to drink and drive, hit a person, and flee the scene of the accident. Hope the victim files a personal injury lawsuit against him in order to at the very least, recover compensation for his injuries.