[Online Exclusive]: Bruin kicker arrested after car accident
UCLA football kicker Justin Medlock was arrested early Saturday
morning and was later booked under felony charges of driving under
the influence and hit and run.
The arrest will almost certainly keep Medlock, 22, from playing
in UCLA’s bowl game on Dec. 30, and could result in fines and
possible jail time for the Bruin junior.
Medlock suffered minor injuries from the one-car accident.
Hannah Jun, a member of the UCLA women’s golf team and the
lone passenger in Medlock’s car, was taken to the UCLA
Medical Center where she was treated for “very severe”
spinal cord injuries, said Lynne Blum, a California Highway Patrol
sergeant.
Medlock was transported to the Inmate Reception Center in
downtown Los Angeles at 7:40 a.m. Saturday where he was booked on
felony charges. He was released on a $100,000 bail at 8:58 p.m.
Saturday, according to the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s
Department Web site.
Medlock is now scheduled for a Jan. 3, 2006 court date at
Inglewood Municipal Court, where he will possibly face charges
filed by the district attorney’s office, pending an
investigation.
The single-car accident occurred at 2:52 a.m. Saturday, with the
CHP arriving five minutes later, Blum said.
Medlock’s car, a 1998 Toyota Tacoma, veered off Interstate
405 North, struck a call box on the Manchester off-ramp near LAX,
flipped over and came to rest on its roof.
Witnesses told CHP officers that Medlock walked away from the
accident before officers arrived on the scene. Medlock was arrested
almost an hour later by the Inglewood Police Department near the
intersection of Florence and Inglewood, about one-and-a-half miles
from the scene of the accident, Blum said.
The Bruin football player was “coherent” and
“cooperative” when police found him, said CHP
investigating officer Dale Horne.
Medlock was taken to Freeman Hospital in Inglewood where he was
treated for minor injuries, including a swollen left eye, a cut lip
and chest pain.
The CHP took blood samples from Medlock to determine his level
of intoxication. Results are still pending.
Jun was treated for spinal and vertebrae injuries, specifically
to the neck, according to Blum.
CHP officers who arrived on the scene found Jun “half in,
half out” of the car and apparently trying to climb out the
window, Blum said.
Jun, 20, was coherent and voiced concern for Medlock when CHP
officers arrived. Blum said Jun appeared to have full range of
motion of her limbs and did not appear to be intoxicated.
Jun is a returning junior and two-year starter on a UCLA
women’s golf team that won the national championship in 2004
and finished in second place in 2005.
Medlock’s arrest is the most serious offense under UCLA
coach Karl Dorrell, who has been credited with cleaning up the
Bruins’ tarnished off-the-field image since arriving in
Westwood in 2003.
A year ago as a sophomore, Medlock was selected first-team
All-Pac-10 by the conference’s coaches after making 15 of 20
field goals.
This season, Medlock is 13-of-17 on his field goal attempts, and
moved up to No. 5 on UCLA’s all-time made field goals
list.
But this will be the second consecutive season in which Dorrell
will most likely be forced to hand down disciplinary measures
before his team’s bowl game.
Last year before UCLA’s Las Vegas Bowl appearance against
Wyoming, Dorrell sent seniors Benjamin Lorier and Eyoseph Efseaff
home early after they arrived intoxicated to a team meeting.
If Dorrell suspends Medlock for UCLA’s Sun Bowl date with
Northwestern in El Paso, Texas, it will likely leave the Bruin
coach with freshman punter Aaron Perez and freshmen walk-ons Brian
Mallete and Jimmy Rotstein to handle the kicking duties.
Look for continued coverage in Monday’s issue of the
Daily Bruin.
