| For Immediate Release Case # 10CF2446 April 22, 2011 |
Susan Kang Schroeder Chief of Staff Office: 714-347-8408 Cell: 714-292-2718 Farrah Emami |
DRUNKEN DRIVER SENTENCED TO SIX YEARS IN PRISON FOR KILLING A PEDESTRIAN BY CRASHING CAR INTO VICTIM AFTER LOSING CONTROL
SANTA ANA – A drunken driver was sentenced today to six years in state prison for killing a pedestrian after losing control of his vehicle and crashing. Beau Richard Cook, 29, Costa Mesa, pleaded guilty April 22, 2011, to the court to one felony count of vehicular manslaughter with gross negligence while intoxicated. He was sentenced to six years in state prison.
At approximately 11:24 p.m. on Sept. 1, 2010, Cook was driving in his Scion southbound on Harbor Boulevard in Santa Ana after consuming alcohol. He was speeding and ran a red light at the intersection of Harbor Boulevard and Warner Avenue. The defendant swerved to avoid hitting a vehicle making a legal U-turn and lost control of his car. He hit the center median and skid across the southbound lanes of traffic. Cook drove up on the curb of the sidewalk and sheared off a fire hydrant before hitting the victim, 57-year-old pedestrian Eloisa Aguilar, causing her to be thrown and land in the adjacent shopping center parking lot. Witnesses called 911. The victim died at the scene due to blunt force trauma injuries.
Cook was transported to the hospital to be treated for a broken leg and pelvis he sustained in the crash. Approximately an hour and a half after the crash the defendant had a blood alcohol level of .08 percent.
During the hearing, Aguilar’s fiancé, sister, niece, and nephew gave victim impact statements to the court. The victim’s fiancé said: “I lost the Woman I Love, my Best Friend, and my Companion, to a foolish drunken driver… I have gone through the last three holidays along, and go through every day of every week alone… She was the type of person who could joke about herself and laugh about it the whole time I knew her… We were going to be married next year.”
The victim’s sister explained: “I was the immediate family member who was first hit with this horrifying news. It was shocking, awful, and unbelievable… With this tragedy, I had this heavy responsibility of breaking the news to the rest of my family members and relatives… It took me about a week before I was able to break the news to my mom… Mr. Cook, you will receive a sentence; however, you are one lucky person, because you are given the chance to continue with your life, a right my innocent sister deserved, but was not lucky to have.”
Aguilar’s niece stated: “My grandmother had to bury a child. No one should ever have to bury a child… It is now 2011, the beginning of the first year my aunt would never come to know and its surreal knowing Tita Ellie won’t be there when I get married, when I have kids, or when I host the Thanksgiving or Christmas dinner.”
Deputy District Attorney Nancy Hayashida of the Homicide Unit prosecuted this case.
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