No matter the circumstances, any motor vehicle crash that involves a fatality is a tragedy and a traumatic event for all involved. In most cases, a person may face a charge of vehicular manslaughter. In cases involving a driver who is intoxicated, the charge can be either vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated or gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated.
The first charge can be charged either as a misdemeanor or as a felony. The second charge is always a felony, but several things must be proven before someone can be convicted of this charge. The first, naturally, is that the driver was intoxicated. The second is that the driver broke another of California’s traffic laws. The third thing that must be proven is that the driver acted with gross negligence, which means that they acted with a conscious disregard for the safety of others.
ABC 7 reports that a woman has been arrested in connection with a suspected DUI hit-and-run accident. 67-year-old Helen Scheuplein of Covina was arrested on several charges in connection with a deadly hit-and-run accident that occurred on Wednesday.
According to police, Scheuplein was allegedly driving under the influence early Wednesday morning when she hit and killed 50-year-old James Radzik. Police discovered Radzik at about 2:30 a.m. in the 1600 block of Towne Avenue.
They were able to track down Scheuplein just before 6 p.m. on Thursday. She was found in the 500 block of East Foothill Boulevard in Pomona. She was arrested without incident. She was booked on charges of gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated, vehicular manslaughter, and hit-and-run causing death. She is being held on a $100,000 bond.
