Driver who slayed student may have been texting, intoxicated

The Huntington Beach man whose truck hit and killed 14-year-old student Danny Oates was possibly sending text messages about a drug deal before or during the fatal crash, according to court documents.

A sworn affidavit Huntington Beach police filed in Orange County Superior Court on Feb. 13 states that the cellphone of driver Jeffrey F. Woods, 20, of Huntington Beach, had sent multiple text messages about scoring drugs to at least three people over the days before the crash.

The affidavit was part of a request for a warrant to search cellphone records connected to those messages. While the document itself requests it not be released at the time, for unclear reasons it was publicly available at the court.

The warrant request is part of police’s investigation of the crash that killed Oates Aug. 29 as he rode his bicycle on Indianapolis Avenue at Everglades Lane. Oates was riding to Isaac L. Sowers Middle School to pick up his eighth-grade class schedule when Woods’ truck swerved across the street, hit and killed Oates, and crashed through a concrete wall, according to police.

“Oc’s,” “bars” and “norcs” — street slang for prescription narcotics OxyContin, Xanax and Vicodin — are mentioned repeatedly in the text messages starting Aug. 27, according to the affidavit. Police said one such message came at nearly the time of the crash, according to court records.

“Then, only one minute before the collision (or simultaneous with the collision) at 1409 hrs., Woods is texting [to a friend] ‘Need bars?’” the affidavit states.

Preliminary toxicology results from the Orange County Sheriff’s crime lab also found opiates in Woods’ blood, but more testing is required to verify that result, according to the affidavit. The affidavit does not present any evidence of a particular drug’s presence.

Police spokesman Lt. Dave Bunetta said he could not comment on an ongoing investigation, but the department would forward its findings to prosecutors in four to six weeks.

The investigation is aimed at finding witnesses with evidence of negligence and possible drug influence during the crash, according to the document.

“These interviews are very likely to show Woods was under the influence of a drug when he hit and killed Daniel Oates,” the affidavit states. “Interview of these subscribers are likely to show the lack of attention Woods was paying to his driving at the time he hit Daniel Oates. Disclosure of this subscriber information will lead to subscriber interviews and will possibly uncover additional text messages showing Woods was in a conspiracy to obtain a controlled substance at the time he hit and killed Daniel Oates.”

Oates’ death caused a community-wide mourning, as hundreds showed up to memorials and vigils. Residents also spoke up to city officials about their fears of unsafe traffic near schools, leading City Council members to vote for lighted crosswalks and radar-equipped speed limit signs in the area.