An Orange County man has found that the idea of being able to run but not being able to hide is especially true after his involvement in a fatal DUI crash that happened in Laguna Beach in 2014. That man is now facing murder charges and could end up in prison for the rest of his life.
Patch.com reports that 38-year-old Francisco Acuna Sanchez, formerly of Rancho Santa Margarita, is finally behind bars after being extradited from Panama to face a number of charges from a crash that happened approximately eight years ago.
The Laguna Beach Police Department issued a statement saying that the deadly crash happened in Laguna Beach at approximately 1:40 p.m. on January 26, 2014, on Pacific Coast Highway near Irvine Cove Boulevard.
In the multi-vehicle crash, a 29-year-old male passenger in one of the vehicles died while five additional people were hurt in the crash. The injuries ranged from minor to life-threatening.
Because Sanchez had two prior DUI convictions in 2010 and 2012, he was charged with murder in 2016. Additional charges arising from the 2014 Laguna Beach crash also include two counts of driving under the influence of both alcohol and drugs and driving with a blood-alcohol count that was over the legal limit of 0.08 percent. Sentencing enhancements for great bodily harm were also applied for the two victims that survived the crash.
If convicted of the charges, Sanchez faces a sentence of between 15 years to life in prison.
