General Hospital star Haley Pullos is trying to negotiate a deal with prosecutors for her felony DUI charge for a near-fatal car crash that occurred when she allegedly drove the wrong way on a Los Angeles freeway while drunk and drugged
The 25-year-old actress, who faces up to three years in prison, pleaded not guilty to DUI and another hit-and-run charge.
But if you change your plea to guilty, prosecutors will likely accept a lower sentence that results in less or no jail time, a suspended sentence or even house arrest.
At a hearing Wednesday in Pasadena, north of Los Angeles, Judge Terry Smerling heard that the Los Angeles district attorney and Pullos’ lawyers have been working on a “possible deal.”
Haley Pullos, 25, was charged with DUI after a crash in April, which police said occurred while she was driving the wrong way on a Pasadena freeway. The General Hospital actress is now trying to negotiate a plea deal to change her guilty plea and accept a lower sentence.
After the crash, the California Highway Patrol and Pasadena firefighters released photos of the aftermath of the overnight crash, showing Pullos and the 23-year-old victim’s cars completely destroyed and dumped along the Arroyo Seco Parkway.
The judge scheduled another hearing for April 8, which he said, after numerous unresolved hearings since last July, “should be the final one.”
Deputy Prosecutor Melany Avanessians told Judge Smerling that if a plea deal is not reached by April 8, “we will send her to a preliminary hearing,” meaning Pullos would be on track for a full trial.
Pullos, who has played Molly Lansing-Davis on the popular daytime soap opera since she was 11, was not in court Wednesday.
Pullos wore an ankle brace for several weeks after the accident.
He was on crutches, due to injuries from the accident, when he first appeared in court last July. But at his most recent court appearance last month, the brace was gone.
Their injuries were evidently minor compared to the “long-lasting and life-threatening” injuries suffered by the other driver, Courtney Wilder, 23, whose Pullos car crashed head-on on the 134 Ventura Freeway in Pasadena last April.
Wilder, who was rushed in critical condition to a local hospital to undergo emergency surgery, is now suing the actress in civil court, seeking damages for negligence.
Pullos was charged with DUI causing injury and another felony count of driving with a blood alcohol content greater than 0.08 causing injury. Typically, only one of these DUIs is prosecuted and carries a prison sentence of up to three years, plus a $5,000 fine.
She was also charged with hit and run as a result of allegedly crashing into a parked car just before the accident on the freeway. That charge is a misdemeanor and carries a maximum prison sentence of 180 days and a $1,000 fine.
Police say Pullos, who exited the soap opera a month after the crash, drove his white 2019 Ford Fusion westbound on eastbound Highway 134 and crashed into Wilder’s Kia that was traveling east at 60 mph.
Both cars were completely destroyed and when first responders arrived, police say, Pullos couldn’t get out of her car, so firefighters had to use the jaws of life to pull her out.
Several mini bottles of tequila and edible marijuana wrappers were allegedly found in his car.
And police at the scene reported that he smelled of alcohol, was slurring his speech and had glassy eyes.
Marijuana edibles and tequila bottles were found during a search of Pullos’s white 2019 Ford, photos of which show severe damage in the crash.
The driver of the other car, the Kia seen on the left, was hospitalized and nearly died, and is now suing Pullos for reckless endangerment.
Wilder accuses Pullos in his lawsuit of “attacking” and abusing first responders in a “rage” at the accident scene, and even punching and yelling at a firefighter for touching his expensive designer shirt.
“Haley Pullos acted maliciously and without any regard for the safety of others, as evidenced by her anger when first responders removed her from her vehicle,” Wilder said in a written statement to the court.
‘She acted maliciously by attacking officers and shouting profanities in front of witnesses and directed at those who were trying to help her.
‘In her rage, Haley Pullos punched a firefighter and yelled at him to get his hands off her ‘damn $400 shirt.’
‘Despite causing two accidents, one of which resulted in serious life-threatening injuries, he cared more about his expensive clothing than the safety and well-being of the victim of his reckless, intentional and despicable conduct.
‘As further evidence of her abhorrent behavior, Haley Pullos continued to fight medical staff and was forced to be sedated.
“Not only was he driving under the influence of drugs and alcohol, but he was also drinking behind the wheel, as evidenced by the edible wrappers and empty alcohol bottles found in his vehicle.”
The driver she crashed into is suing No Comment Lounge, where Pullos worked as a hostess, for allegedly plying her with alcohol and then letting her drive.
Weeks after the accident, Pullos, whose own injuries have never been revealed in detail, told Soap Opera Digest that he was taking a break from his role on the long-running daytime show to recover from the accident.
“Unfortunately, I was involved in a car accident and I’m fine, but I’m going to need a little time to recover,” she told the publication at the time. ‘I’ll be back as soon as possible!’
Shortly after, in May 2023, DailyMail.com spotted her checking into a luxury rehab center in Malibu.
Last month, accident victim Wilder added Pasadena’s No Comment Lounge, where Pullos worked as a hostess the night of the accident, as a defendant in her civil lawsuit, accusing the popular nightspot of plying her with alcohol and then letting her drive herself. to home.
Wilder is also suing the California State Department of Transportation, alleging that the road where the accident occurred is in “dangerous conditions.”