A Corona man pleaded not guilty to charges stemming from a suspected DUI collision with an on-duty Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department K-9 car in Huntington Beach.
William Long Thai Nguyen, 29, is accused of consuming alcohol and methamphetamine before driving eastbound on Slater Street in Huntington Beach at about 4:30 a.m. Thursday, failing to stop at a red light and crashing into an LASD deputy’s K-9 vehicle, according to Roxi Fyad of the Orange County District Attorney’s Office.
The deputy was knocked unconscious and suffered scratches and bruises, Fyad said.
Nguyen pleaded not guilty at the West Justice Center in Westminster to a felony count of driving under the influence of alcohol and drugs causing bodily injury with a prior conviction, a misdemeanor count of driving without a valid license, an infraction of possessing marijuana while driving and a sentencing enhancement for inflicting great bodily injury, Fyad said.
A pretrial hearing is scheduled for Dec. 15.
Nguyen faces a maximum sentence of six years in prison and six months in jail, Fyad said. He was convicted of misdemeanor DUI in 2013 in Orange County.
—City News Service