Intoxicated Driver with 4 DUIs and no driver's license kills pedestrian

A driver with four DUI convictions and no license was arrested on Tuesday, March 12, on suspicion of hitting and killing another man with his car and fleeing the scene before leading police on a brief pursuit in Orange, authorities said.

Around 11:20 a.m., the victim was crossing a roadway outside of a protected crosswalk when he was struck by a Toyota sedan heading northbound along the 300 block of Tustin Street, north of Palm Avenue, according to Orange Police Lt. Phil McMullin. The pedestrian was pronounced dead at the scene.

His identity was not immediately released.

The sedan was spotted by an officer along Katella Avenue about 10 minutes after the hit-and-run and there was a brief pursuit, McMullin said. The driver eventually came to stop in the area near Tustin and Adams Avenue and was arrested.

The driver, Jonathan Lopez, 31, had four convictions of driving under the influence in the last 10 years and was driving without a license at the time of the crash on Tuesday, McMullin said.

Lopez, an Orange resident, showed signs of alcohol intoxication during his arrest, McMullin said, and was booked on suspicion of felony DUI, felony hit and run, evading, and vehicular homicide.

https://www.ocregister.com/2024/03/12/suspected-fatal-hit-and-run-driver-leads-police-on-brief-pursuit-in-orange/