The Redding Police Department recently announced two DUI collisions that resulted in injuries, property damage, and had the potential for fatal injuries that thankfully did not happen. Three of the people involved required hospitalization.
Children bike riding on Martian Way in a Google Maps image. Bearquiver crashed into a home on this street.
The first collision they reported happened last Saturday night, October 4, at around 9 pm. Dakota Bearquiver, a 21-year-old Redding man was driving a 2000 Dodge Stratus through a southeast Redding neighborhood near Alta Mesa and Galaxy Way. He was alone in the car, and witnesses reported that he was driving recklessly. As he turned down Martian Way, he apparently lost control of the vehicle and crashed into the front wall of a house. Several people immediately contacted police to report the crash.
Officers responding to the scene found Bearquiver near the car suffering from minor injuries. Both the car and house sustained moderate damage, and no one else was injured, inside or outside the house. The young man, however, was found to have been under the influence of alcohol, and was arrested at the scene for DUI and, and released to the hospital for treatment of his injuries. He was reportedly not wearing a seatbelt, but was saved from more serious injury by the deployment of the car’s airbags. The Shasta County District attorney will be reviewing his case for prosecution. Dakota Bearquiver had been in trouble before – records show arrests in 2012 for both trespassing and being under the influence of drugs or alcohol.
Haley Walund was arrested for DUI after the collision. (Facebook)
The next day, on Monday October 5, reports came in that a head-on collision had occurred on Eastside Road in southwest Redding at about 5:30 in the afternoon. A car going northbound towards Bonnyview Road drifted across the double yellow line and into oncoming traffic. The 2002 Acura sedan, driven by 37-year-old Haley Walund of Redding, collided with a 2001 Chrysler sedan, driven by a 78-year-old man, identified as John O’Neill, also of Redding. There were no other passengers in the 2 vehicles.
Fortunately for both drivers, they were wearing seatbelts and airbags were deployed on impact. Both, however, required treatment for their injuries and were taken to Mercy Medical Center. Walund, however, also showed signs of alcohol intoxication, and was arrested for driving under the influence, causing injury. Like Bearquiver, she was released to the care of the hospital, and the case was turned over to the Shasta DA for review and prosecution. Eastside road, which runs next to the railroad tracks parallel with Market Street, was closed for an hour for investigation and clean-up.
