Tuesday, October 7th, 2008

[Online Exclusive]: Bruin kicker arrested after car accident

Vehicle flips on off-ramp; fellow athlete sustains ‘very severe’ injuries as passenger

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.