Tony Rackauckas, District Attorney
401 Civic Center Drive West
Santa Ana, CA 92701
For Immediate Release | Susan Kang Schroeder Farrah Emami |
DISTRACTED DRIVER TO BE ARRAIGNED FOR
KILLING MOTORIST IN CRASH AFTER
RUNNING THROUGH RED LIGHT
SANTA ANA – A distracted driver will be arraigned tomorrow for killing another motorist by crashing into the victim’s car in an intersection after running through a red light. Laurie Anne Keen, 43, Irvine, was charged Aug. 29, 2011, with one felony count of vehicular manslaughter with gross negligence and faces a maximum sentence of six years in state prison if convicted. The People will be requesting Keen be held on $100,000 bail at her arraignment tomorrow, Friday, Sept. 30, 2011, at 8:30 a.m. in Department C-55, Central Justice Center, Santa Ana.
At approximately 1:21 p.m. on Jan. 18, 2011, Keen is accused of driving in Irvine in a Chevrolet van southbound on Culver Drive approaching the intersection at Farwell Avenue. She is accused of failing to pay attention and driving through a red light and crashing into the driver’s side of a Toyota sedan driven by 77-year-old Patricia Thompson-Yates. The victim was making a legal left turn from eastbound Farwell Avenue to northbound Culver Drive on a green light.
After the initial crash, Keen’s vehicle spun counterclockwise and the defendant is accused of crashing into the victim’s vehicle a second time. Both cars came to a stop in the middle of the intersection.
Thompson-Yates was transported to Hoag Hospital, Irvine, where she was pronounced dead at 2:04 p.m. due to multiple blunt traumatic injuries. The defendant refused medical care and was not transported to the hospital.
Deputy District Attorney Nancy Hayashida of the Homicide Unit is prosecuting this case.
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