My News LA reports that a Los Angeles man responsible for a fatal DUI crash in 2021 was sentenced to 9 years in prison yesterday.
Court documents indicate that the crash happened at approximately 3:40 p.m. on November 4, 2021, at the intersection of Seal Beach Drive and St. Andrews Drive near the Leisure World retirement community.
Officers with the Seal Beach Police Department and Orange County Fire Authority paramedics responded to the scene of a “serious traffic accident” involving at least three vehicles. One woman involved in the crash was rushed to an area hospital. Despite all life-saving efforts by paramedics and doctors, she died shortly after she arrived at the trauma center.
One of the drivers involved in the crash was identified as German Juarez, then 29, of Los Angeles. German sustained only minor injuries in the crash. He caused the crash after failing to stop at a red light.
Seal Beach Police Officers determined that Juarez had a blood-alcohol level of 0.15 percent. He was cited for felony driving under the influence of alcohol and vehicular manslaughter. Juarez was immediately arrested following his release by doctors, and he was booked into the Orange County Jail in Santa Ana.
Juarez pleaded guilty to the charges of vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated without gross negligence and one count of driving under the influence of alcohol with a blood-alcohol level greater than .08 percent.
The defendant also faced sentencing enhancements for allegedly causing great bodily harm to two others injured in the incident.
An Orange County judge sentenced Juarez to nine years in prison on Tuesday, February 21.
