DUI suspect faces murder charge for crash in California home
Just 2 days before the New Year, a 60-year-old man sleeping in his bed was killed in the early morning hours when a car crashed into the Southern California home where he was renting a room. The Orange County Sheriff’s Department said another man in the house was not injured when the vehicle crashed through the front of the house.
Deputies at the scene of the accident arrested a 27-year-old man. They believe he was traveling at a high rate of speed in his Cadillac – 50 miles per hour in a 25-mph residential zone – when he failed to negotiate a curve, lost control of his vehicle and crashed into the house.
Deputies say the driver displayed obvious signs of intoxication and failed a field sobriety test at the scene. Orange County prosecutors say the man has a history of DUI arrests, including an arrest in June 2013 and a misdemeanor DUI conviction in August 2010. If convicted on the murder charge, he could face from 15 years to life in prison.
Because a car accident can claim a life so easily, drivers are expected to be in control of their vehicles at all times. When a driver fails to do so by driving after drinking or engaging in other problematic behaviors, every person around him or her is at risk of injury or death. Any drunken driver on the road who is caught by police faces criminal consequences, and any intoxicated driver involved in a fatal accident faces even more severe charges.
Whether or not a suspected DUI driver is charged and convicted of a crime, the family of anyone killed by that driver’s negligence can file a wrongful death lawsuit to recover damages and find some justice.
Source: CBS News, “Man Accused in Crash into Calif. Home Charged with Murder,” Dec. 31, 2013