HAWTHORNE, CA—It’s a dirty world and someone is certainly doing it, and when that someone is also drunk, nearly mowing down pedestrians and executing hit-and-runs in the middle of the day, then justice must be served.
William Burnick Beretta, 28, was stopped by Hawthorne police officers on Sunday, December 7 at approximately 1:45 p.m. along the 5100 block of Rosecrans Avenue in Hawthorne.
As we all know, December 7, 1941 was a “Day of Infamy” that ended in the horrible devastation of the U.S. Navy as well as much of the Army-Air Force’s aircraft in the Pacific and prompted the U.S. to enter WWII.
The unemployed Lawndale man’s drunken assault was nowhere near as horrific nor memorable as the events of 73 years ago but for at least a couple of people it was a bad day.
He was charged with a DUI resultant of drugs and/or alcohol (23152(A)VC), a hit-and-run resulting in property damage (20002(A)VC), littering (23111VC), making an unsafe turn in front of oncoming traffic (21801(A)VC) and failing to yield to a pedestrian (21950(A)VC).
Total bail was set at $35,105.
If Beretta makes bail, perhaps next year he can reenact the bombing of the Maine by driving drunk into a naval warship in Long Beach.