1:00pm | An Orange County judge took the option of revoking John Hines’s probation in favor of a four-years-and-four-months state prison sentence after the former Long Beach fire captain was found drunk on hand sanitizer — a .22 BAC was measured, about three times the legal driving limit — in his pay-for-stay one-year jail sentence.

Pay-for-stay facilities are offered to non-violent offenders at a daily cost — usually in the range of $100 per day — so that they may continue to work while completing their sentence; acceptance into pay-for-stays are based upon approval from the head officers of the jail after a personal review. The facilities are also more comfortable, where inmates are permitted to bring reading materials, electronics, and personal hygiene products.

Last April 1, Hines had been drinking at Long Beach restaurant Schooner or Later when he left at about 1:20pm. He headed eastbound on Westminster Avenue, and in between Bolsa Chica and Seal Beach Boulevard, he lost control of the truck at around 1:30pm. He swerved into the bike lane, hitting 47-year-old cyclist Jeffrey Gordon.

Hines continued to drive home to Huntington Beach, where he was arrested. His BAC, measured some two hours after the accident, was said to be .24.

Gordon was treated for head and spinal injuries and a broken back at Long Beach Memorial Medical Center, where he was hospitalized for two weeks.
The judge today, clearly disturbed by Hines and unimpressed that he was apparently receiving treatment for his alcoholism, simply stated, “I can’t fix you.”

More to come as the story progresses.