The Antelope Valley Times

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Deputies save life of hit-and-run victim, driver arrested for DUI

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Deputies Darrin Van Arsdale and John Fink. [Image courtesy LASD]
Deputies Darrin Van Arsdale and John Fink. [Image courtesy LASD]
LANCASTER – Two local deputies helped saved the life of a motorcyclist who was struck by a hit-and-run driver in Lancaster Saturday evening, authorities said.

The collision was reported around 6 p.m. Saturday, July 2, near the intersection of 15th Street East and Avenue K, said Lt. Larry Alva of the Lancaster Sheriff’s Station said.

A motorcyclist and his 8-year-old daughter were ejected onto a busy roadway when a vehicle struck their motorcycle and then fled the scene, according to a news release from the Lancaster Sheriff’s Station.

When deputies John Fink and Darrin Van Arsdale arrived on scene, the motorcyclist was “suffering from a severe and potentially life threatening injury to his leg,” the news release states.

“Deputy Vans Arsdale sprinted to his patrol vehicle and retrieved a tourniquet. He dashed back to the victim and gave the tourniquet to Deputy Fink, who applied the device to the father’s lower limb in order to preserve his life,” the news release states.

“Once they had stabilized the father, Deputies Fink and Van Arsdale turned their attention to the little girl, who had sustained numerous serious but non-life threatening injuries as a result of her fall from the motorcycle. Deputy Van Arsdale treated the young girl for her injuries and continued to comfort her until the arrival of Los Angeles County Fire Department personnel,” the news release states.

Los Angeles County Fire Department Engine 135 arrived at the scene and took over medical care, and then father and daughter were airlifted to a hospital.

“According to Los Angeles County Fire personnel, the quick actions of deputies Fink and Van Arsdale in applying the tourniquet to the father saved his life,” the news release states.

A witness called 9-1-1, stayed on the phone with Lancaster Station dispatchers, and helped lead deputies to the suspected hit-and-run driver’s location, according to the Sheriff’s Department.

The suspect — 28-year-old Joshua Hall of Lancaster — allegedly threatened a female deputy before he was taken into custody, according to the news release.

Hall was arrested on suspicion of felony driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs and jailed in lieu of $100,000 bail, the Sheriff’s Department reported.

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44 comments for "Deputies save life of hit-and-run victim, driver arrested for DUI"

  1. Great job to Deputy Fink and Deputy Van Arsdale. Even under extreme measures you thought quick and saved lives. I also want to say, that you are all in my prayers daily. After the horrible violent attack in Dallas, I will pray even more. I have family in law enforcement and hold you very dear to my heart. Please stay safe.

  3. Prayers for a full recovery for accident victims.
    The Sheriffs that have helped me on several occasions
    have always been kind and went way beyond
    their job description. My fathers passing after
    a 15 month long battle with cancer. The sheriff that
    came held me together at the worst time in my life.
    Sharing he had lost his father last year to cancer.
    He at that time became a brother, friend and loving
    soul. Never know who will extend their hand when we
    need it the most.

  4. Tim, you bang that drum about sycophant “cops can do no wrong let me polish that badge” mentality often enough that you can’t even see you are the opposite side of that same coin. Unlike you, most honest people take the time to distinguish the difference between ‘some people’, and ‘all people’ in a particular situation. There are plenty of crummy cops out there, but you disparage ALL cops. I am sorry that prison was so hard on you dude, but your attitude is just childish and wrong. Grow up.

  5. First off I want to thank the deputies who helped save his life. I’m a cowoker of the victim and all I can say is he is a very nice, kind-hearted person and was always taking about his daughter. Praying for you buddy!

  6. This happened right behind my house and unfortunately there’s an accident here a few times a year. I have been thinking about this little girl and her father since the accident, wondering how they are doing. I knew the father was badly injured when he couldn’t move enough to even attempt to comfort his baby girl who was crying 10ft away. I truly hope they are doing well and if anyone knows their condition please update me!

  7. Ya ever see the movie “Crash”? Even worthless cops can do some good if the opportunity presents itself. It don’t make them good cops… They prove their worth when nobody is looking.. or when they encounter a homeless person, and treat them with the same respect as a middle-class homeowner…

    • I am thankful for the handful of deputies who daily risk their lives to protect us from ubiquitous crime and criminals in the AV.

      Dear Deputies,

      Please don’t lose heart. We know you’ve got a difficult job, but we’ve got your back in prayers. We appreciate you even when you think your work is in vain. Thank you for protecting us from evil.

      e

      • I am thankful for the garbagemen, who daily face a greater risk of death on the job than law enforcement does, for their collecting of our trash that really is ubiquitous, unlike the “crime and criminals,” which are only ubiquitous in your fevered paranoia.

          • Well, people that have come to hate law enforcement, generally due to law enforcement officers who are themselves skofflaws who think the law is their personal shield against consequences, are certainly pretty close to ubiquitous. Other than their fellow officers and immediate families I suspect most cops have no friends at all.

            As to “morons”…I find they are more likely to follow the sycophant “cops can do no wrong let me polish that badge” path, as you seem to be doing, than most people are but still many of them do hate cops.

        • You sure have a lot to say about police officer. I bet you stay at home and milk the system and just troll websites to complain about something you have no
          Clue about. Or maybe you have an air conditioned office job and never actually do any kind of hard or physical work. Either way you are a piece of crap. Go on one ride along. Seriously I challenge you to do so and I guarantee you, you will never make the same kinds of comments that you do

          • Blah, blah blah…”I bet this!” “I pretend to know that!”

            YOU don’t know thing one about me. If you want to find out, then demonstrate the courage to meet me and call me a “piece of crap” to my face and see how it goes. Until then, the obvious “website troll” in this exchange is you.

            Meanwhile, why in the world would I want to ride along with a cop? I don’t like them. I make no secret of the fact I don’t like them. There is no particular reason that any cop would be really happy to be stuck in a car with me for any length of time. So why would you wish such upon them, oh sycophantic leg humper?

          • Tim, obviously, has be arrested and convicted of a crime and thus blames the mean deputies for his misfortune.
            He will pontificate and bloviate about how he was a business owner who made so much money he has no need for it any longer and even lovingly gave his business to his employees….but he won’t name the business.
            I think this is the persona he creates to counteract that his criminal conviction kept him from creating his utopian fantasy. Nobody has this much disdain for the police and love for sanitation worked except somebody with negative contact with law enforcement.

            Good job to the deputies who saved a life!

          • Shane, he did run the prison laundry.left it to the other inmates, when he got released.thats the business he left to his employees.but you did leave out his girlfriends townhome, he lives in.oh, and his new best friend cop, that tells him all about the evils within the department.

          • LOL…when my previous response posts it will be perfect here too. Yet another blah, blah blah, know nothing making wild guesses. Of course this time it is Shane Falco, previously demonstrated bald faced liar with a bad case of “I need a big house to make up for some other shortcomings.” As I said to the other wild guesser, any time you want to test your assumptions I’m more than willing to meet anyone, even a grotesquely arrogant prig like you.

          • Only in Tim Scott’s twisted mind and logic could one argue that working a profession were one has the 2nd highest chance of being murdered while performing their job, would that proven fact NOT actually constitute a very dangerous job! Your complete disdain and hatred for police could not be more evident than what you have exhibited in this thread. I guess you really can’t change stupid!

          • Keep trying J-Lab. I don’t think you are going to convince anyone that murdered people are somehow “deader” than other dead people.

            When the garbageman leaves for work in the morning he is almost three times as likely to die on the job that day than a cop is. Yet no one says “garbagemen have such a dangerous job we should just give them a pass if they murder people.” Why is that J-Lab? Why are people like you such badge licking sycophants? Is it all the cop shows on TV?

          • Timmy, nice try in changing the point about debating dangerous and deadly professions to now, the levels of death. I’ll give you credit, you are pretty good at being so stubborn in your hatred for law enforcement professionals that even in the face of current events, where 8 peace officers have been brutally gunned down and murdered in the last few DAYS, with countless others shot, wounded and still hospitalized with life changing, and in some cases, career ending injuries, that you would still denigrate their selfless service to protect the community from murderous individuals by comparing their sacrifice to the occupational workplace accidents faced by garbage men.

            Ok, you win! Our law enforcement professionals are tasked with cleaning up the garbage criminal element from our society every single day, and yes, as we have seen recently and historically, that garbage can shoot back. Which makes this profession one of the most dangerous pubic safety jobs in the nation.

          • Tim, another peace officer brutally shot down and murdered yesterday in Kansas City. Another name will be added to the national memorial. I was unable to find any garbage men murdered stats on the Internet for 2016? 2015? 2014? Nope. Nothing!

          • Still trying to change those goalposts in mid kick, eh J-Lab? Thought you figured out that it was better to say uncle and move on.

            Meanwhile, it has been a rough couple weeks for law enforcement. I know that sycophants like you will never acknowledge that there’s something wrong with law enforcement in this country, but do you think the guys being shot at have figured it out yet?

          • Wow! We’ve all known how truly classless you are, and have been, based on your constant and repetitive ridiculous blog comments but I believe you have actually manage to hit a new low, even for a bottom feeder like yourself. You need some serious help!

            However, I do realize I’m talking with and about an actual mentally impaired individual.

          • Any time you want to call me names to my face J-Lab, you gutless pos, let me know and I’ll make it available for you.

          • Tim’s rants are especially disgusting given the recent deaths of law enforcement officers by deranged people egged on by police hating rhetoric like Tim’s. Just to let everyone know, I have contacted the FBI about Tim’s statements wishing death and harm to police and firefighters on this site.

        • What are the statistics between the death of a garbage man verses cops? You definitely have my attention. You’ve repeatedly made comments Regarding garbage men. Technology has made life easier than ever for sanitary workers. Do you have facts comparing the two jobs? I’m not trying to offend an attorney or a man of the law as yourself however just curious about your statement. I have to admit I have put the wrong trash in my recycle bin more than once which may have led to serious dangers… Lol! not dangers but I’d be pissed if I were working the recycle section at waste management!

          • According to department of labor statistics, annual on the job fatality rate for “Refuse and Recyclable Material Collectors” (garbagemen) is 35.8 per 100,000 workers. For “Police and Sheriff’s Patrol Officers” (cops) it is 13.5 per 100,000 workers. A garbageman leaving his house to go to work is more than twice as likely to die and not come home to his family than a cop is. Cops are also more likely to make it home at the end of the day than the average construction laborer, truck drivers, taxi drivers, maintenance workers, airline pilots, farmers, loggers, or commercial fishermen. Their job is right in the same range with most of the skilled construction trades. Slightly more dangerous than office work, but nothing to get really excited about.

          • Ok Tim, please show me the stats on how many of those workplace or on the job deaths were the result of felonious assaults vs. industrial accidents that may or may not be the result of operator error?

          • Why?

            You don’t care about the stats, you just want to come up with an interpretation that supports your pre existing “the deputies are putting their lives on the line for me” comfort zone. Leave out industrial accidents and industrial jobs become spectacularly safe…which proves nothing.

            For what it is worth though, a substantial portion of on the job deaths in law enforcement result from crashing their patrol cars, not “felonious assaults.”

            For anyone who actually wants to know and isn’t just looking to find a way to confirm what they want to believe, the statistics are reported every year by the Bureau of Labor and are fairly easy to find.

          • Yes tim, its all over the news for the last 2 days.5.garbage men killed by sniper.in fact this year, all we hear about is garbage men dying everywhere.its tragic.i see my garbage man wearing a kevlar vest.oh the humanity! !!!!

          • @J-Lab – what difference does it make? Dead is dead. Either by felonious assault (occupational hazard) or garbage truck (occupational hazard). Fact remains Police Officers are less likely to die on the job than a dozen other occupations.

            For some reason we consider them heroes for doing the job they are paid for, and paid for handsomely. I find that odd.

          • No Joe, those were cops. I’m surprised you didn’t catch that, since it has been all over the news. Guess you are a bit thick.

            Anyway, those five will go into the 13.5 per hundred thousand workers, which will probably be the rate this year as well since it has been fairly consistent. As has the rate of death on the job for garbagemen, which is consistently more than twice as high, year in year out.

            If you are too thick to understand statistics, take a course. There are several colleges offering courses in the AV, and I believe most high schools offer statistics now so maybe you can raise a kid and they can take a class and try to explain it to you. But frankly your inability to comprehend is not really my problem.

          • Just in case J-Lab missed it, the post he was waiting for has cleared the moderator hold.

          • No tim, that was sarcasm. We never hear anything about a gabarge man dying, either there really isnt that many.or just not news worthy.but thanks for thinking everyone else is thick, and you are so smart.a thousand cops could die, and you would bring up garbage man.

          • Cathy, if someone breaks into your house, rapes you with a broom handle, or baseball bat, depending on your size, call the garbarge man.just as important as a cop.do any of the other dozen or so more dangerous occupations have people who shoot at them?

          • Tim, thank you for the suggestion to check the Bureau of Labor Statistics for accuracy on this topic of dangerous professions. Apparently even this federal agency realized it was also important to delineate the difference between on the job deaths by industrial “accidents” from those that occurred as a result of “MURDER” while performing their job duties. The BLS report on that important classification found that law enforcement is the 2nd deadliest profession in the nation. Only taxi drivers are murdered at a higher rate on the job. Garbage men, loggers or construction workers didn’t make this list. And the instances of law enforcement officers killed in traffic collisions are separated out and covered in the industrial accident report.

            Thanks again for the suggestion. Now we can all have clarity on the FACTS based on the BLS statistics you have cited so many times in the past.

            And God bless our public servants who potentially put their lives on the line everyday they go to work. And God bless the souls lost last week in Dallas and their loved ones who will be grieving at the 5 funerals this week.

          • Thank you deputies. I’m sure this family truly appreciates your dedication to duty and life saving actions while others try to demoralize your honorable work.

          • Great. If you want to cite “chance of getting murdered” as the relevant measure, feel free to do so and I won’t argue the point. Now, please point out where a law enforcement officer does that. Or any cop sycophant does that.

            They don’t. All they talk about is “high risk,” which it isn’t. Or “risking their lives,” which comparatively speaking they aren’t.

            Now you come out with this “even this federal agency recognizes that murder is its own category.” Why do you not also point out that they break out every hazard as its own category? THAT’S THEIR JOB. They are providing statistics not only on comparative risk but the sources of those risks so people can work on abating those risks. Do we need to work on police officer safety? Not as much as we need to work on garbageman safety, apparently. Do we need to work on protecting police officers from murderers? Apparently not as much as we need to work on convincing them not to drive their patrol cars in front of trains, since until last week the biggest multiple death on the job incident police suffered involved exactly that.

            If you think getting murdered makes someone MORE DEAD or something, that’s certainly your prerogative. I tend to subscribe to the “dead’s dead, that’s that” principle myself…unless you consider pain and suffering on the way out. If you do I’ll take a clean bullet to the head over being slowly devoured by a compactor, thanks.

            But, as I said when you asked for stats and I provided them…it was pointless. You weren’t interested in them, and merely shifted the goalposts so you could ignore them and find something else to support the position you were never going to honestly examine.

          • Hey all, I think I won the prize in proving Tim is once again full of $#!+ based on his attempts to denegrate the law enforcement profession every chance he gets. That’s one of his longest tantrum responses so far! His constant attempts to use BLS stats to bolster his claims that policing is not dangerous work blew up in his face with the same source that he tried to cite. Now all he had left was to write an extremely long diatribe that contradicts his initial post on the topic. It’s okay to say “Uncle” Tim.

            And if I can leave you with one last tip: Tim, it’s better to remain silent and thought a fool, than to speak and remove all doubt!

          • It is okay to say uncle. You probably should. If you want to redefine “most dangerous” as “most likely to be murdered” and ignore all the other ways people die that’s your prerogative, but it doesn’t say anything about me.

            You might want to consider that “keep quiet and make them wonder” advice too, because pretty much anyone reading the thread can see I’ve been consistent through all of your changing definitions and pretenses.

  8. Thank you, Deputy Fink, Deputy Van Arsdale and all others First Responders, for saving another life. Your work is greatly appreciated by most and under appreciated by some.