Actor Sues County Over Paramedic Aid

SANTA ANA —  Actor Jan-Michael Vincent claims in a lawsuit filed Tuesday against the Orange County Fire Authority that he has lost acting jobs because paramedics treating him after a drunk-driving crash damaged his vocal cords.

On Aug. 26, 1996, Vincent rear-ended his girlfriend’s Cadillac in Mission Viejo and careened into a pole. He was treated at Mission Hospital Regional Medical Center for a broken neck and other injuries, and investigators found he had a blood-alcohol level of 0.18%, more than twice the legal limit of 0.08%.

The suit filed in Orange County Superior Court alleges that the paramedics who treated him en route to the hospital improperly inserted a tube in his throat, causing him to vomit and injuring his vocal cords.

Since then, he claims, he has only been able to speak in a whisper, and as a result, “has lost a number of acting roles.”

Shortly after the crash, the former “Airwolf” star appeared in “Red Line,” a movie about a race-car driver who turned to crime.

In March, Vincent, 52, pleaded guilty to misdemeanor drunk driving and driving with a suspended license in connection with the Mission Viejo crash.

In May 1995, Vincent’s license was suspended for four years after a crash in Malibu in which investigators determined his blood-alcohol level was 0.33%.

Court records also show Vincent pleaded guilty and was placed on probation after a drunk-driving arrest in 1983.

Capt. Scott Brown, Fire Authority spokesman, said the agency can’t comment on pending litigation.