For Newport, Scars of Crash Heal Slowly

NEWPORT BEACH â€”  The simple sound of her name holds a curious power.

From the salons of Corona del Mar to the saloons of Newport Pier, it has become a symbol for a gyroscope of emotions spinning through this wealthy community.

Amanda Arthur. Or, as she is almost universally known around Newport Bay, Amanda.

Amanda, the brain-damaged survivor of a traffic accident that tragically killed a classmate. Amanda, the sleeping beauty who somehow arose from an 11-week coma to don a high school homecoming queen’s coronet. Amanda, the new celebrity of religious and inspirational circuits, whose appearance on wobbly knees is greeted by teary standing ovations.

But six months after the accident, the mere mention of the 18-year-old’s name also provokes brooding discussions and furious debates among classmates at Newport Harbor High School, their parents and the community at large: Who or what was responsible for the awful crash of a souped-up vehicle overloaded with teens last spring? And what does the fallout from the crash say about the community?

“Amanda’s situation has had a profound effect on the school district and the community. It’s stimulated a discussion about the community’s values,� said Mac Bernd, the departing superintendent of Newport-Mesa Unified School District. “While I don’t know a single person who isn’t ecstatic about her recovery, there are contradictory feelings and emotions that people are having difficulty in handling.�

At first, the community showed its softer side, and hundreds turned out for memorials and fund-raisers.

Now, the same community has split. Perhaps unavoidably, the lawyers and insurance companies are moving in and solidarity is crumbling. It has become plaintiff versus plaintiff, citizen versus citizen, and, in a way, even mother versus mother.

In the midst of it all, a sweet and somewhat childlike Amanda inspires both adoration and anger.

“People blame Amanda for the publicity and attention, and that bothers me,� said Katie Bourgeois, 17, a Newport Harbor senior and longtime friend of Amanda. “I just want to help people calm down about it, to not be so upset about it.�

But with a criminal trial and a slew of civil lawsuits in the offing, the crash continues to reverberate around Newport Bay.

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The 1989 Chevy Blazer was packed with 10 teens as it trundled through the darkness toward the sharp curves on southbound Irvine Avenue after midnight on May 23. After a party earlier that night, the teens shrugged off a confrontation with sheriff’s deputies who made them dump out their beer, witnesses and authorities have said. The teens bought more beer and went to a secluded outdoor spot alongside Upper Newport Bay, they said. Just before 12:30 a.m., after a good night’s partying, they were heading home.

The Blazer was owned by the family of passenger Donny Bridgman but was driven by 18-year-old designated driver Jason Rausch, who had not been drinking, according to police and witnesses. Only two teens, including Rausch, were wearing seat belts when the Blazer evidently swayed, skidded and flipped, throwing the other eight teens onto the pavement and median.

Bridgman, 18, died at the scene. Amanda Arthur and Daniel Townsend, 18, suffered long-term, potentially permanent, brain injuries. Several others endured massive lacerations and broken bones.

Other passengers included Newport Harbor students William Watson and Eric Freeman, who were 18, David McMillen and Heidi Funderburk, who were 17, and Kevy McNeill and Devon Carels, who were 16.

Six months later, the injured are recovering at a halting pace. Townsend has spent quiet months with his family at home, undergoing treatment and going to a school for people with brain injuries. “It’s slow, very, very slow,� his father, Mike Townsend, said.

Amanda, the varsity song captain on the school cheerleading squad, not only awoke, but then won a school ballot for the homecoming crown, appearing at her coronation last month, flashing a beauty queen’s smile and blowing kisses.

Her comeback stunned and captivated the Newport Beach and Costa Mesa area, and the revelation that her family had no health insurance unleashed an outpouring of assistance, including T-shirt sales and a concert by pop star Bill Medley.

Friends and relatives have been interviewed by ABC’s “20/20,� and cameras spent five days chronicling the recovery that Amanda’s mother, Chris Maese, says resulted from the prayers of loved ones.

“I just credit the Lord with everything,� Maese said, declining requests for an in-depth interview. “We have faith that there will be complete healing.�

But in this community, there has been anything but healing.

“God does not reward people based on how many people have prayed,� an angry Vickie Bridgman, the dead youth’s mother, said. “To have someone going around celebrating God in this manner is painful to me.

“I’m not pleased at how [Amanda’s] mother has portrayed this situation.�

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For a while, the Newport-Mesa area sought to salve the wounds from the accident through forgiveness and common cause. But legal and economic pressures are eclipsing the spirit of good will.

The victims have filed claims against the city of Newport Beach. Hefty insurance claims are likely to follow. And Jason Rausch, the designated driver, may go to prison.

The popular former Newport Harbor football player has a preliminary hearing Monday in Municipal Court in Newport Beach on a felony count of vehicular manslaughter and two misdemeanor counts of reckless driving. If his case goes to trial in Superior Court and he’s convicted, he faces up to six years behind bars.

Whether Rausch should be punished, and how severely, is debated in business offices and supermarket aisles. At his last court appearance, supporters demonstrated.

“Everybody has an opinion,� said school board member Dana Black, the mother of a Newport Harbor sophomore.

Some of Rausch’s passengers have publicly said he was speeding far in excess of the posted 35 mph limit. Rausch’s attorneys have blamed road conditions and the customized Blazer.

Just how fast Rausch was driving the Bridgmans’ Blazer is in dispute. A Newport Beach police report put the Blazer’s speed at the time of the accident at 63 mph. An accident reconstruction expert hired by the prosecution put it between 56 and 63 mph, according to court records. Rausch’s lawyers will argue it was lower still.

At Newport Harbor High School, many students keep their thoughts to themselves. “People don’t talk that much about it because if they did, it could lead to conflicts,� said Kassy Thompson, 17, senior class president.

But the differences within the community are distinct.

“When you come into the house of Newport Harbor High School, you see a definite line forming as to who was responsible and who was not,� Black said. “Part of the community wants Jason to fry, and other people think everyone should be held accountable.�

Black said most people don’t favor prison for Rausch. “People feel that although Jason was driving, every one of those children was responsible,� she said.

Mike Townsend, whose son Daniel faces a lengthy recovery, wholeheartedly agrees with the felony charges. So does Vickie Bridgman, whose son was killed.

“When you swing that steering wheel back and forth on those S-curves, it’s a serious thing,� Townsend said. “Some people want to take it lightly. I guess if you don’t have a child with a brain injury, you can feel that way. I can’t.�

Public furor has erupted from recent claims filed against the city on behalf of Donny Bridgman, Amanda Arthur and the other injured teens. After rallying around the teens, many residents now feel they are being blamed for the accident.

“The community at large is shocked that these people would file these claims,� John W. Hedges, a City Council member and former mayor, said.

Still, the road where the crash happened has a reputation for danger.

“I’ve begged the police, I’ve called the city to ask them to put in a speed bump or a light,� said Lisa Cohen, who, with 4-year-old daughter Leah, placed a sign urging people to slow down in front of their house on Irvine Avenue. “Everybody acts like it’s no big deal. It’s so heartbreaking.�

Because Newport Beach is close-knit as well as affluent, some wonder whether justice is possible. Vickie Bridgman is a deputy district attorney in Orange County, so the prosecution of Rausch is being handled by the state attorney general’s office to avoid a conflict of interest.

And of eight judges at the Municipal Court where Rausch will have his preliminary hearing, four have connections to relatives or attorneys of the accident victims. One of those judges stepped aside. Because of the complications, Superior Court Judge Everett W. Dickey was called in for Monday’s hearing and will have to decide whether to dismiss the felony charge.

Many agree a trial would produce new information. But far beyond the question of Rausch’s role, legal proceedings could turn a powerful spotlight on the lifestyle of wealthy Newport Bay teens and their parents.

“There’s a lot of information that would come out that people may not necessarily care to have come out,� Black said. “The blow-by-blow.�

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Donny Bridgman died with a blood alcohol content of .11%, according to the Orange County coroner’s office. Under California law, .08% is considered drunk.

How much had other teens been drinking? Had any smoked pot, as some told police they had? Hospital records have been subpoenaed, meaning the extent of last spring’s partying could come out during the trial.

That some children of the well-to-do aren’t angels comes as news to few--especially the young people themselves. They love a party as much as high school students anywhere. But more than most, they have the wherewithal--cars, unsupervised houses, money--to do it.

“School board members tell me that there are parents in Newport Beach who routinely hand over the keys to the car, to the liquor cabinet, whatever, and take off to have their fun, and say to the kids, ‘Have at it,’ � Hedges said.

The 66,643 residents of Newport Beach enjoy a per capita income of $49,593, the highest in Orange County, according to census officials. The average dwelling is valued at more than $500,000.

Classmates in Costa Mesa aren’t as well off. But the parties are shared by all, and administrators last spring were alarmed. So were students.

“I looked around. There were more people driving drunk, more people doing things they shouldn’t be doing,� said Phil Baltazar, a football player and president of the student government at Newport Harbor. “I could almost see something coming.�

Something did.

Last spring at Newport Harbor, the annual rite of the “senior prank,� usually a time of minor mischief, turned ugly. Students trashed the school’s roof and plumbing, dumped concrete down drains and caused $10,000 to $20,000 in damage.

Police were called. So were parents. Forty students admitted they played a role and agreed to four days of in-school suspension and other penalties.

“School was getting kind of crazy,� senior Tiffani Amaya, a cheerleader, said.

Suspension lasted from Monday, May 19, until Thursday, May 22. That night, perhaps to mark their freedom, and possibly to kick off a three-day weekend, Newport Harbor students decided to throw parties.

Not all of the students who attended the parties had taken part in the vandalism. But among guests at one party were Amanda Arthur and Donny Bridgman. Daniel Townsend was there. So were most of the other students who later ended up in the Blazer that flipped and crashed.

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School officials say “zero tolerance� policies have helped keep school functions free of drugs and alcohol. Still, they worry about what’s going on outside of school.

So do students.

“There’s a huge problem,� Baltazar said. “The vast, vast majority of students don’t drink. But for them, there’s no place to go.�

Students and parents have tried to launch a series of nonalcoholic parties at private clubs outside of school. Initially successful, the effort has begun to fizzle from a lack of parent and student volunteers and funding.

But such events could both curb raucous house parties and help students with a key goal of the 1997-98 school year: to overcome the stigma of last May’s crash.

“People sort of want to get on with their lives,� senior Thompson said, adding that some students may have learned painful lessons from the crash.

Since the accident, students, parents and teachers in the Newport Harbor community have been a little more careful, more watchful. Students say they drive a little slower. They make sure everyone has a seat belt. But how long it will last is a question many are asking themselves.

Senior Amaya said: “Some people still do stupid things, because that’s how they are. But a lot of people are more considerate of others, ready to take care of one another.�

Beyond the lessons and the lawsuits, Baltazar thinks people should face up to their personal responsibility.

Pleasant or not, he starts with himself.

“I saw things that weren’t right,� he said, thinking back to last spring. “I was an elected leader of the student body, and I did nothing to correct a problem I saw. I didn’t do all I could do.

“Maybe if I had. . . .�