| For Immediate Release Case # 03CF2415 July 31, 2007 |
Contact: Susan Kang Schroeder Public Affairs Counsel Office: 714-347-8408 Cell: 714-292-2718 |
DRIVER CONVICTED OF DRIVING DRUNK AT
100 MPH AND MURDERING MOTHER OF THREE AND HARLEY DAVIDSON AFICIONADO
*The victim’s husband was riding beside her when she was hit
SANTA ANA – An Orange County jury convicted drunk driver Jonathan Barber, 28, Irvine, this afternoon of running over and murdering a Harley Davidson aficionado and mother of three, Carla Olsen. Barber was convicted of murder, gross vehicular manslaughter, driving under the influence causing injury, hit and run causing death, and driving on a suspended or revoked license. Barber faces a maximum sentence of 15 years to life in prison. He will be sentenced on Friday, September 14, 2007 at 9:00 a.m. in Department C-35, Central Justice Center, Santa Ana.
At 10:20 p.m. on August 22, 2003, Barber was of driving over 100 miles per hour on Irvine Boulevard near Laguna Canyon Road. He was intoxicated with a blood alcohol level of .20 and crashed his car into the back of Olson’s Harley Davidson motorcycle, causing her bike to slam into a fence and hurling her onto the road. Olson was out for a Friday night ride with her husband of 25 years, who witnessed his wife being hit and killed. The victim’s husband attempted to revive her but was unable due to the severity of her injuries. She was pronounced dead at UCI Medical Center in Orange. Barber then fled the scene on foot and was caught by police an hour later as he attempted to hitchhike on Irvine Boulevard.
Olson was a 43-year-old mother of three and Harley Davidson aficionado. She was a college professor who had purchased her Dyna Lowride motorcycle one year earlier as a Mother’s Day gift for herself.
Senior Deputy District Attorney Cameron Talley of the Homicide Unit is prosecuting this case.
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