Articles Posted in DUI Accidents

Four people were injured in a Bakersfield car collision that was caused by a driver who police say was under the influence of drugs. According to an article in the Bakersfield Californian, Brandon Cortez,27, Alejandro Marin, 22, Tommy Dowell, 56 and Moon Cortez, 26, were injured in the five-car crash. Others – German Rosas, 40, Ignacio Marin, 68, Angel Garza, 21, and Sergio Marin, 47, escaped without injuries in the April 11, 2009 rear-end car accident. Brandon Cortez was later arrested on suspicion of a felony charge of causing personal injuries while driving under the influence of drugs. He also faces a separate charge of being under the influence of a controlled substance.

The crash occurred when Cortez, who was driving a Honda Accord at 70 mph east on Niles Street, rear-ended a car stopped at a red light at Descanso Street. The collision caused a chain reaction crash. The newspaper found online court records, which indicate that Brandon Cortez had several recent brushes with the law including prior jail time for assault, drug possession and a DUI.

I’m relieved to hear, based on this newspaper report, that no one suffered major injuries in what could have been a real tragedy. I wish the injured victims the very best for a quick and complete recovery.

According to California Highway Patrol’s 2007 traffic accident statistics, there were eight fatalities and 141 injuries involving car crashes in Bakersfield that were related to someone driving under the influence of alcohol and/or drugs. In Kern County there were 42 deaths 507 injuries reported in 2007 involving DUI car accidents.
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Los Angeles County DUI Accident Kills Man

Maximino Angeles Hernandez, 41, a Los Angeles Times delivery truck driver was killed in a North Hills head-on collision after his pickup truck was hit by a suspected drunk driver. According to an article in the Los Angeles Times, Hernandez was on his way to work the morning of March 29, 2009, when a Hyundai driven by 23-year-old Sueng Lee crossed the dividing lane and struck Hernandez’s Mazda pickup. The fatal auto accident occurred on Woodley Avenue near Parthenia Street. Lee was driving under the influence of alcohol, police said. He was treated at an area hospital for minor injuries and then arrested on suspicion of second-degree murder.

I offer my deepest sympathies to the family of Maximino Angeles Hernandez for their tragic loss. Here was a hard-working man who suffered an untimely death because a negligent motorist decided to drink and get behind the wheel! My heart goes out to the family, friends and co-workers of this victim. Please keep them in your prayers.

According to California Highway Patrol’s 2007 traffic accident statistics, there were 712 auto accident fatalities in Los Angeles County out of which 268 were alcohol-related. There were also 5,169 injury auto accidents that involved alcohol in Los Angeles County during that time period.
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Police in Rancho Cucamonga have identified a woman injured in a March 4, 2009 drunken driving rear-end auto accident as Carol Lee Santa Cruz. According to the Inland Empire & Inland Valley Breaking News, Santa Cruz, who was driving a blue Hyundai SUV, was stopped at a red light at Haven Avenue near 19th Street when she was rear-ended by a red Chevrolet sedan driven by Deanna Anderson. San Bernardino Sheriff’s Department deputies arrested Deanna Anderson on suspicion of felony DUI. Santa Cruz was taken to a local hospital for treatment of her injuries.

I’m relieved that Carol Lee Santa Cruz did not suffer major injuries in this Rancho Cucamonga DUI auto accident. I wish her the very best for a quick and complete recovery from her injuries.

If this report is accurate and Anderson, the driver of the Chevy sedan, was intoxicated at the time of the collision then, she must be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. According to California Highway Patrol’s 2006 statistics there were 23 auto accident fatalities in Rancho Cucamonga out of which six were alcohol-related crashes. In San Bernardino County as whole there were 133 fatalities and 1,202 injuries involving alcohol-related traffic collisions.
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A 65-year-old woman in San Gabriel is in serious condition after she was struck the morning of February 20, 2009 by a man who police say was driving under the influence. According to this news report in the Pasadena Star News, the crash occurred on Valley Boulevard near Prospect Avenue. The woman, whose name was not released, was a passenger in a vehicle driven by her daughter.

The daughter apparently parked her car on Valley Boulevard legally while her mother got out to mail a letter. As she mailed the letter and was returning to the vehicle, the suspected drunk driver Robert Garcia, rear-ended the daughter’s car, jumped the curb and struck the mother. The injured victim was taken to an area hospital and the daughter was treated for minor injuries. Robert Garcia has been arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence of narcotics.

I’m relieved that this victim did not suffer life-threatening injuries in this accident that was obviously caused by a negligent and irresponsible driver. I wish her the very best for a quick and complete recovery.

Driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs – be it recreational or prescription drugs – is a violation of California law. California Vehicle Code section 23152 (a) states: “It is unlawful for any person who is under the influence of any alcoholic beverage or drug, or under the combined influence of any alcoholic beverage and drug, to drive a vehicle.” California Highway Patrol 2006 statistics show that out of 748 total auto accident deaths in Los Angeles County, 276 were caused by an impaired driver. These statistics also show that 5,057 people in Los Angeles County were injured in 2006 in DUI accidents.
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Raul Hinojosa, a 28-year-old Bellflower resident, was killed in an accident on the 91 freeway in Orange County on November 16, 2008, which officials say was caused by a suspected drunk driver. Hinojosa and 20-year-old Matthew Lawetzki had pulled over on the side of the freeway just past Coal Canyon Road in Yorba Linda to change a tire on their disabled Nissan Sentra. Moments later, Allyn Barry Casey, 58, of Corona, who was doing about 75 mph in his Ford Ranger, drove into the right shoulder and hit the Sentra. Our source for this blog is a news report in The Orange County Register.

California Highway Patrol officials said Lawetzki escaped with injuries while Hinojosa, who was changing the tire at the time of the collision, was killed at the scene. Casey was arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence.
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Three people – Jiwon Lee, 27, of Brea, Sarah Garrat, 25, of Bellflower and Ayesha King, 23, of Los Angeles – were injured in a Sunset Beach auto accident on November 12, 2008. According to an article in The Orange County Register, the accident was caused by a suspected drunk driver. California Highway Patrol officials have not yet said how the 11/12/08 crash occurred, but say they found a Toyota Sienna and a Nissan Altima at the intersection of Warner Avenue and Pacific Coast Highway.

Lee and King suffered minor injuries in the collision while Garrat suffered moderate injuries, CHP officials said. Seung Kim, 41, of Orange, the driver of the Sienna, was arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence.
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A 26-year-old woman, who was killed in a South El Monte DUI auto accident on October 31, 2008, has been identified as Nellyda Beltran-Cruz. She was pronounced dead at the accident scene, which occurred Halloween night at the intersection of Santa Anita and Elliot avenues. Our source for this blog is a news report in the Pasadena Star News.

The other man, whose name has not yet been released, was driving north on Santa Anita Avenue. Beltran-Cruz was driving west on Elliot Avenue when the two cars collided.
Traffic investigators say they suspect that the man was driving under the influence at the time of the accident. He has also been hospitalized in critical condition.

My heart goes out to the family of Nellyda Beltran Cruz who was tragically killed in this 10/31/08 intersection accident. I offer my deepest condolences to them.
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Karen Karapetyan, 33, of Garden Grove, died after a suspected drunk driver ran a red light and hit the Orange County man’s taxicab triggering a four-car crash, Fox News reports. The 5-Series gray BMW, driven by 29-year-old Avishkar Padhye, was reportedly traveling south on Highland Avenue. Padhye sped through a red light on Sunset Boulevard and struck Karapetyan’s eastbound taxicab on the driver’s side, killing him on impact.

The auto accident sent the BMW and the taxicab careening into two other vehicles, causing minor injuries to one other person. Padhye has been arrested on suspicion of drunk driving and vehicular manslaughter, Los Angeles Police Department officials said.

I offer my heartfelt condolences to the family of Karen Karapetyan for their irreparable loss.

Padhye should be held criminally and civilly responsible for the accident, injuries and the death of Karen Karapetyan. He had no regard for the law, traffic rules and most of all, for the life of another human being. In 2006, there were 4,229 fatal traffic accidents in California, according to this Web site. Out of that, 1,276 collisions (35 percent) were alcohol-related.
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Orange County officials issued 67 DUI tickets to drunk drivers over the Labor Day weekend, The Orange County Register reported. There was also one fatal Orange County auto accident during this weekend as Dennis McIntyre, 64, of Fountain Valley, was killed after crashing his 1995 Toyota Tacoma on the northbound I-405 near Beach Boulevard. Officials are investigating whether alcohol was involved in that accident.

California Highway Patrol Officer Denise Quesada said these 67 DUI citations represent an increase from 2007 when 60 DUI citations had been issued. In the year 2006 alone, there were 1,525 traffic collisions in Orange County involving alcohol. Eighty of those injury traffic collisions involved fatalities. That means 10 percent of all injury traffic accidents and 40 percent of all fatal traffic accidents involved a drunk driver.

Our firm handles about 250 serious traffic accident injury cases a year. About 20 percent of these cases are caused by an intoxicated driver. In California, it is illegal to drive a motor vehicle with a blood alcohol level of 0.08 or higher. The deaths, injuries, pain suffering and financial devastation caused to innocent DUI accident victims is heart-breaking and cannot be repaired with money. And rarely is there enough money for these victims to be compensated.