San Diego Personal Injury Attorney Blog

Repeat Drunk Driver Pleads Guilty to Car Chase, Fatal Crash

A repeat drunk driving offender who was caught racing another vehicle pled guilty to a host of charges after the resulting crash killed his passenger. Jorge Luis Lopez was speeding along Highway 78 in a 1991 Honda Civic, apparently racing a westbound sedan that was also speeding, when an officer attempted to pull them over. The sedan slowed down, but Lopez took off, fleeing at speeds of up to 100 mph and merging onto northbound Interstate 5. Lopez exited onto Mission Avenue, still traveling at about 80 mph, before he hit a dip in the road on Mesa Drive and veered out of control, crashing into a parked pickup truck. Paramedics airlifted Lopez to Scripps La Jolla Hospital where he was treated for his injuries. His passenger, 21-year-old Marco Gutierrez, and also the defendant’s brother-in-law, died at the scene. Before the crash, Lopez had a prior DUI conviction and three…
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Family Gets Justice After Hit-and-Run Driver Pleads Guilty

The family of a hit-and-run victim received some small comfort when the drunk driver responsible for their daughter’s death pleaded guilty to several counts in a San Diego courtroom. Back in March, Ph. D student and aspiring marine biologist Rachel Morrison was hit by an (at that time) unknown vehicle at a crosswalk at the intersection of Camino Del Mar and Coast Boulevard. A friend walking with her managed to dive out of the way and escaped uninjured, but the impact knocked Morrison some 120 feet into some nearby bushes. The car then fled the scene. The friend acted quickly, taking down the Audi A4’s license plate number and calling the paramedics. An ambulance raced Morrison to La Jolla Hospital, but it was too late. She died shortly thereafter from her injuries. Thanks to the quick actions of Morrison’s friend, sheriff’s deputies and San Diego Police Department officers quickly located…
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Police Identify Driver In Head-On Taxi Collision

According to NBC San Diego, police have arrested a suspected drunk driver who was responsible for the death of a cab driver last week. A 42-year-old woman was reportedly driving the wrong way down Interstate 5 when she collided head on with a taxi. The driver of the cab attempted to get out of his car and off the highway, but was struck several times by oncoming traffic and died from his injuries. Shortly afterwards, a white Honda Accord slammed into the back of the cab and pushed it over an embankment. The woman, once she realized her mistake, made a U-turn and fled, leaving the cab driver behind. Police would not say how they caught up with the woman several hours later, but she has been charged with three felony counts of vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated, felony DUI causing injury and fleeing the scene of an accident causing injury…
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