| For Immediate Release Case # 13HF2830 October 21, 2013 |
Susan Kang Schroeder Chief of Staff Office: 714-347-8408 Cell: 714-292-2718 Farrah Emami
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ATTORNEY TO BE ARRAIGNED FOR CRASHING CAR AND KILLING BICYCLIST WHILE DRIVING UNDER THE INFLUENCE OF PRESCRIPTION DRUGS
SANTA ANA – An attorney is scheduled to be arraigned tomorrow for crashing her car into a bicyclist and killing him while driving under the influence of prescription drugs. Hasti Fakhrai-Bayrooti, 39, Rancho Santa Margarita, is charged with one felony count of vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated. If convicted, she faces a maximum sentence of four years in state prison. She is out of custody on $100,000 bail and is scheduled to be arraigned tomorrow, Tuesday, Oct. 22, 2013, at 8:30 a.m. in Department C-55, Central Justice Center, Santa Ana.
At approximately 6:45 p.m. on March 15, 2013, Fakhrai-Bayrooti is accused of driving her car southbound on Santa Margarita Parkway in Mission Viejo after consuming prescription drugs, including Xanax and Suboxone. She is accused of swerving into a bike lane, crashing into 54-year-old bicyclist Eric Billings between the intersection of El Toro Road and Los Alisos Boulevard, and causing the victim to roll over the hood and windshield. The victim died as a result of sustaining multiple traumatic injuries from the crash.
The Orange County Sheriff’s Department (OCSD) arrived at the scene and investigated this case. OCSD arrested the defendant on Sept. 23, 2013, after the Orange County Crime Laboratory analyzed the blood evidence.
Deputy District Attorney Anna McIntire of the Homicide Unit is prosecuting this case.
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