| For Immediate Release Case # 12CF0581 February 29, 2012 |
Susan Kang Schroeder Chief of Staff Office: 714-347-8408 Cell: 714-292-2718 Farrah Emami Spokesperson Office: 714-347-8405 Cell: 714-323-4486 |
TEENAGER ARRAIGNED FOR DRIVING UNDER THE INFLUENCE AND KILLING AND INJURING PASSENGERS
SANTA ANA – A teenager was arraigned today on charges of driving under the influence of alcohol and killing one of his five teenage passengers and injuring others. Jesus Manzo Torres, 18, Tustin, is charged with one felony count of vehicular manslaughter with gross negligence while intoxicated with allegations for causing bodily injury to more than one victim while driving under the influence. He’s also facing sentencing enhancements for personally inflicting great bodily injury on two additional people. If convicted, he faces a maximum sentence of 18 years in state prison. Torres was released on $100,000 bail and is scheduled for a pre-trial hearing on Tuesday, April 3, 2012, at 8:30 a.m. in Department C-55, Central Justice Center, Santa Ana.
At 1:45 a.m. on Nov. 6, 2011, Torres is accused of driving his brother’s 1996 Subaru Legacy with five passengers while under the influence of alcohol, at a high rate of speed southbound on Santiago Canyon Road. In the car were 19-year-old Alfredo Salas, 18-year-old George Cisneros, 17-year-old Jose. G, 17-year-old Saul L., and 14-year-old Isaias L. Torres is accused of speeding and swerving the vehicle over the double yellow lines onto the other side, leaving the roadway, and slamming into a tree.
Torres is accused of causing the crash resulting in two of the passengers, who were not wearing their seatbelts, being thrown out of the vehicle. The front seat passenger, Cisneros, was transported to Western Medical Center where he later died. Salas suffered a concussion, multiple broken vertebrae in his back and a fractured sternum. Jose G. suffered a fractured jaw, from multiple blunt traumatic injuries, a concussion, and a third degree burn to his ankle. Isaias L. and Saul L. both suffered cuts and bruises.
Approximately an hour after the crash, Torres had a blood alcohol content level of .15 percent and displayed objective physical signs of a person under the influence of alcohol.
RELATED CASE # 12CM01812: Daniel Rodriguez, 35, Tustin, is charged with one misdemeanor count of unlawfully purchasing alcohol to a person under the age of 21. If convicted, he faces a maximum sentence of one year in jail. Rodriguez is accused of purchasing Torres the alcohol on the night of the accident.
Deputy District Attorney Nancy Hayashida of the Homicide Unit is prosecuting this case.
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