Man dies after fiery crash

Mike Swanson

A Laguna Beach man died early Saturday when a truck traveling on the

wrong side of El Toro Road hit the victim’s van head-on.

William Krueger, 45, died on impact at 2:50 a.m., police said, and

28-year-old Laguna Niguel resident Micah McAdoo was rescued just

after the accident from his burning 2003 Toyota Tacoma and taken to

Western Medical Center in Santa Ana.

McAdoo was following two women out of town after spending the

evening in Laguna Beach, Sgt. Jason Kravetz said. The women told

police they saw in the rearview mirror that McAdoo was driving on the

wrong side of the road and wondered why, then saw Krueger’s van pass

their car and collide with McAdoo’s truck.

The truck immediately burst into flames, witnesses said, and two

men pulled McAdoo -- who suffered multiple burns, a broken arm and

broken leg -- from his engulfed vehicle. Krueger, who apparently

wasn’t wearing a seatbelt, was pronounced dead on the scene.

Police are awaiting toxicology results from the coroner’s office,

which normally take about three weeks, and blood samples from McAdoo

to determine whether he was driving under the influence of alcohol or

drugs, Kravetz said.

“In any traffic accident with major injuries or deaths, we always

take blood samples of the parties involved,” Kravetz said. “When the

results come back, we’ll decide whether to pass this on as a criminal

matter to the district attorney’s office.”

Kravetz said police knew Krueger as “a local guy,” adding that the

department hadn’t heard from any surviving family members.

As of Monday morning, McAdoo was in stable condition and not

suffering from any internal injuries. He had his pet Chihuahua in the

car at the time of the accident, Kravetz said, but the dog wasn’t

found.