Man injured after pickup crashes A...

Man injured after pickup crashes

A 57-year-old Palmdale man was hospitalized Friday morning after

he lost control of his pickup truck because of a possible medical

condition, Newport Beach Police said.

The man, whose name was not released because his family had not

yet been notified, was driving south on MacArthur Boulevard and was

about to make a left turn at Bonita Canyon Drive at about 8 a.m.

Friday when witnesses saw him slump over the wheel and drive through

the intersection of Bonita Canyon Drive, said Newport Beach Police

Sgt. Steve Shulman.

The pickup truck then hit a median and wrapped around a traffic

signal in the northeastern corner of the intersection, he said.

The man was taken to Hoag Hospital with broken legs, chest

injuries, several cuts and a concussion, Shulman said.

“We believe that the accident was caused because of his medical

condition,” he said.

No one else was injured in the crash that left one lane on

northbound MacArthur Boulevard closed for an hour.

Former Bechler company settles

ARV Assisted Living Inc., a Costa Mesa company once operated by

Newport Coast couple Eric and Pegye Bechler, on Friday agreed to pay

$1.6 million to resolve allegations of Medicare fraud, officials

said.

The settlement reached Thursday stems from allegations that

GeriCare, a wholly owned ARV subsidiary from 1996 to 1998, improperly charged costs on its Medicare cost reports from 1992 to 1998, said

Thom Mrozek, spokesman for the U.S. Attorney’s Office. Officials

alleged GeriCare submitted bills for unallowable costs and received

more reimbursement from Medicare than it should have.

Eric Bechler is currently serving a life sentence in state person

after he was found guilty of murdering his wife in a high-profile

trial in January 2001. Jurors believed Bechler took his wife on a

boating trip, killed her and dumped her body in the ocean.

The Bechlers owned GeriCare until 1996, when they sold the company

to ARV. The couple continued to operate GeriCare until ARV fired them

in 1997.