Driver in fatal crash pleads guilty

Marisa O’Neil

A year after a drunk driver killed one pedestrian and seriously

injured another outside a 17th Street nightclub, the driver faces a

seven-year sentence and city officials are working to improve the

intersection.

Pawel Wiater, 23, pleaded guilty April 15 in Orange County

Superior Court to felony DUI and vehicular manslaughter charges. He

was sentenced to seven years in state prison, will have his driver’s

license revoked for an additional year and must pay $1,109.35 in

restitution, according to the district attorney’s office.

Andre Felipe De Oliveira Braga, 31, of Laguna Beach, was killed

when a 2000 Mitsubishi Eclipse driven by Wiater hit him just after

midnight as he crossed 17th Street at Raymond Avenue, near popular

night spot Pierce Street Annex.

Westminster resident John Grazulis, 25, who was also crossing the

street, was seriously injured in the accident.

Police said Wiater, a Polish native, was drunk and driving at a

high rate of speed when he struck the two men.

Grazulis and members of Braga’s family are suing Wiater, his

passenger, Pierce Street Annex, the city of Costa Mesa and the state

for $25 million. The lawsuit, filed in February, alleges that

negligence and dangerous conditions led to the accident.

Attorneys in the case could not be reached for comment.

Patrons of the bar often park in a lot on the opposite side of

17th Street, Costa Mesa police Sgt. Marty Carver said. There is no

light or crosswalk at the intersection with Raymond Avenue, but the

men were not crossing illegally at the time of the accident, he said.

The city has since evaluated the intersection and on April 8

applied to Caltrans for a grant to make the area “more pedestrian-

friendly,” said David Sorge, a project manager for the city.

“I’m optimistic we’re going to get this grant given we’ve had a

fatality,” Sorge said. “Unfortunately, that often is enough of a

mechanism to recommend a grant.”

The $71,000 grant would pay to improve street lighting and install

a flashing pedestrian signal, similar to one just put in at Placentia

Avenue and 20th Street, he said.

The city should hear within the next five months if it received

the grant, but it may be another year before a signal is in place, he

said.