Driver May Face Manslaughter Charges

HUNTINGTON BEACH â€”  A local painter who police said ran a red light and smashed into a pickup truck carrying a woman and her 8-month-old daughter faces the possibility of manslaughter charges now that the baby has died of her injuries.

Lt. Ed McErlain, a police spokesman, said Tuesday that investigators will seek to build a manslaughter case against Ron LeGrand, 53, of Huntington Beach, the motorist allegedly responsible for the Monday morning accident at Brookhurst Street and Yorktown Avenue.

McErlain said the running of the red light in the intersection of the two major thoroughfares “was definitely the contributing factor that caused the collision and the subsequent death.�

After surviving almost 13 hours with extremely critical injuries, Tiffany Kauten was pronounced dead at 11:13 p.m. Monday at Children’s Hospital of Orange County in Orange.

The baby became the fourth traffic fatality in Huntington Beach in two weeks--a figure that McErlain called “high� in so short a period. There have been just three other traffic fatalities in the city for the entire year.

The condition of the infant’s mother, Julie Kauten, 21, of Fountain Valley, was upgraded Tuesday from fair to stable at UCI Medical Center in Orange.

“She basically has abrasions and bruises on her arms and legs,� said Fran Tardiff, a hospital spokeswoman. “She probably won’t be (hospitalized) too much longer.�

Police said LeGrand, who was driving a white Toyota pickup truck, struck Kauten’s truck broadside about 10 a.m. and sent it crashing into a third vehicle.

The accident jarred loose the car seat in which Tiffany was riding and sent her tumbling into the cab of her mother’s pickup.

“Unfortunately, the (Kauten) vehicle was struck on the passenger side where the infant was,� McErlain said.

The driver of the third car was slightly injured, police said.

LeGrand lists his occupation on voter registration files as a painter. A person answering the phone at his Huntington Beach home said, “There’s nothing we can say right now.�

McErlain said investigators, who contacted LeGrand Tuesday, will probably seek a warrant for his arrest later this week.

Police said there is no indication that alcohol was involved in the crash.

Meanwhile, a 24-year-old Midway City woman hurt in another accident Monday in Westminster was reported Tuesday in critical condition at UCI Medical Center with head injuries and broken bones.

The woman, Trisha Garvis, apparently ran a stoplight and struck another car at the intersection of Beach Boulevard and Bolsa Avenue about 6:50 p.m, police said.