| For Immediate Release Case # TBA
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OCSD DEPUTY CHARGED WITH INJURING 78-YEAR-OLD IN CRASH WHILE DRIVING UNDER THE INFLUENCE OF PRESCRIPTION DRUGS
*Defendant is also charged with using fake cocaine to buy prescription drugs in an unrelated case
SANTA ANA – An off-duty Orange County Sheriff’s deputy was arrested and charged today with injuring a 78-year-old woman after crashing into her car while driving under the influence of prescription drugs. He is also charged with using fake cocaine to purchase prescription drugs. Allan James Waters, 36, Laguna Niguel, has been charged with one felony count of driving under the influence causing bodily injury and two felony counts of selling a substance in lieu of cocaine with a sentencing enhancement for causing great bodily injury. If convicted, he faces a maximum sentence of seven years and four months in state prison. Waters is being held on $100,000 bail and is expected to be arraigned Friday, June 11, 2010, in Department CJ-1, Central Jail, Santa Ana. The time is to be determined.
Driving Under the Influence Causing Injury Charge
At approximately 4:45 p.m. on March 1, 2010, Waters is accused of driving southbound on Golden Lantern Street in Dana Point. He is accused of failing to stop and crashing into the back of a vehicle that had stopped at a red light in front of him. Deputies from the Orange County Sheriff’s Department (OCSD) responded to the scene and released Waters and the other driver approximately 30 minutes later after taking a report of the incident. The responding deputies were aware that Waters was an OCSD employee.
At approximately 5:20 p.m., seven minutes after leaving the scene of the first crash, Waters is accused of driving northbound on Golden Lantern Street. He is accused of driving erratically including failing to accelerate at a green light, stopping partially in an intersection on a red light, and almost crashing into a passing motorist. Multiple drivers called 911 to report his driving.
Waters is accused of swerving and hitting the curb before over-correcting and swerving to his left. He is accused of crossing over the middle lane and crashing into a vehicle driving in the far left lane. The victim’s vehicle was forced over a planter onto the wrong side of the road, where it came to a stop facing northbound in the southbound lanes.
The defendant is accused of driving forward for a short distance before coming to a stop. OCSD deputies arrived at the scene and contacted the California Highway Patrol (CHP) to investigate. CHP officers contacted Waters at the scene. The defendant is accused of displaying objective signs of drug intoxication including slurred speech, a lack of balance, and trouble following directions. Waters is accused of being impaired while driving and under the influence of prescription drugs Zolpidem and Hydrocodone. He was arrested at the scene. He was later released pending further investigation.