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Three pedestrians were killed by a drunk driver in Anaheim.

Fatal pedestrian accident: A mother, daughter, and niece were struck and killed by a drunk driver Sunday night in Anaheim.

•   Three women were crossing the street after a baby shower when they were struck by a drunk driver.

•   All three women were killed in the accident.

•   The driver who hit them was arrested on charges of felony drunk driving and vehicular manslaughter.

The deadly drunk driving accident occurred at about 11 p.m., according to an NBC News report.

Anaheim Police Sgt. Bob Dunn said the three victims — 56-year-old Carmen Mendoza, daughter Sheyla Mendoza, 21, and niece Stephanie Henriquez, also 21 — were walking home from a baby shower when the accident happened.

The women were crossing Western Avenue (at Lincoln Avenue) when they were stuck by a red four-door Honda Civic traveling northbound on Western. His rate of speed was not immediately known.

All three women were killed. Sheyla Mendoza died at the scene, according to a report in the Long Beach Press-Telegram.  The other two victims were taken to UCI Medical Center, where they were pronounced dead.

The driver, 40-year-old Anthony Lewis Sanchez of Buena Park, was arrested charges of felony drunk driving and vehicular manslaughter, Dunn said.

Sanchez and his unidentified female passenger both suffered minor injuries and were taken to area hospitals to be treated. Sanchezs was booked into the Orange County Men’s Intake Release Center with bail set at $500,000. He was scheduled to appear in Central Jail Court on Monday.

Anaheim Pedestrian Accident Lawyers

The trial attorneys at Blackman Legal Group, a California-based law firm founded by renowned trial attorney Clifford Blackman, have successfully represented the families of pedestrian accident victims for 35 years. The nationwide toll-free number to call for a free consultation is 1-866-692-8126.

Ten people were hurt in a four-vehicle highway accident near Lompoc. (Photo: Santa Barbara County Fire Department)

Highway crash: Ten people were injured Tuesday in a four-vehicle pileup that started when a drunk driver crossed into oncoming traffic and crashed into an oncoming pickup truck on Highway 246 between Lompoc and Buellton.

•   An 18-year-old unlicensed driver was intoxicated when he drove home from an Indian casino.

•   The teen veered in to oncoming traffic on Highway 246 and crashed into a pickup truck. Another vehicle hit the teen’s car and also struck a pedestrian who was directing traffic. 

•   Ten people were treated at the scene and then hospitalized with injuries. 

•   The teen will be charged with felony DUI, failure to maintain lane position, and driving without a license. 

Officers responded to the accident shortly after 6 a.m., according to reports in in the Lompoc Record and the Santa Barbara Noozhawk.

California Highway Patrol Officer John Ortega said 18-year-old Gerardo Torres Jr. of Lompoc was driving a Honda Civic westbound on Highway 246 when he crossed over into the eastbound lane near Tularosa Road.

The Honda crashed into an oncoming Toyota Tacoma pickup truck driven by 37-year-old Romualdo Jacinto of Lompoc. The impact caused the pickup truck to flip over and land on its roof. Jacinto suffered moderate injuries and was taken to Cottage Hospital. Two of his four passengers also were injured.

The Honda was knocked back into the westbound lanes, where it came to rest.  Moments later, an approaching Lincoln Town Car crashed into the Honda. Torres, who was coming from the Chumash Casino Resort and was intoxicated, sustained a broken femur, Ortega said.

The Lincoln also struck 60-year-old Buellton resident Thomas Meade, who was directing traffic and giving assistance to victims. Meade suffered major injuries and was hospitalized at Cottage Hospital in Santa Barbara. He was expected to survive.

Ortega said 18-year-old Julio Damacio and 22-year-old Juan Lopez of Lompoc suffered moderate injuries in the accident. Gerardo Lopez, 16, and Angel Mendoza, 23, also of Lompoc, suffered minor injuries.

All of the victims were treated at the scene and then taken to hospitals or further evaluation and treatment.

When Torres is released from the hospital, he will face charges of felony DUI, failure to maintain lane position and being an unlicensed driver.

Lompoc Drunk Driving Accident Lawyers

The trial attorneys at Blackman Legal Group, a California-based law firm founded by renowned trial attorney Clifford Blackman, have successfully represented drunk driving accident victims and their families for 35 years. The nationwide toll-free number to call for a free consultation is 1-866-692-8126.

Nicolaas Alan Myrtle (inset) faces felony DUI charges after a car accident that paralyzed one daughter and critically injured the other. (Inset: Redding Record-Searchlight)

Warning: This story is heartbreaking.

A 28-year-old father who drove after he smoked medical marijuana and took other drugs faces felony DUI charges for a car accident that critically injured his two young daughters. One of them suffered a paralyzing spinal cord injury.

•   A father smoked medicinal marijuana and then crashed his car with his two young daughters inside.

•   The girls were not properly secured in their child safety seats.

•   Both girls were critically injured. One is paralyzed from a spinal cord injury. The other had injuries to her face and may be blind in one eye.

•   The father is charged with felony DUI, several grave bodily injury enhancements, and chid endangerment.

The drugged driving accident occurred at about 8:45 p.m., according to a report in the Redding Record-Searchlight.

Nicolaas Alan Myrtle of Palo Cedro said the accident happened when he reached back to buckle one of his daughter’s seat belts that had become unbuckled, according to the California Highway Patrol report.

3-year-old Ashlynn Myrtle (left) and 4-year-old Alexis Myrtle were critically injured in a drugged driving accident.

Myrtle lost control of his car and ran off Gas Point Road near the Little League Fields in Cottonwood, about 15 miles south of Redding.  The car hit a concrete bridge abutment. His two daughters – 3-year-old Ashlynn and 4-year-old Alexis — suffered catastrophic injuries and remain hospitalized at Mercy Medical Center in Redding.

Ashlynn suffered a spinal cord injury and is paralyzed from the waist down, according to a report in the Mt. Shasta News. She is expected to be transferred later this week to Santa Clara Valley Medical Center in San Jose, where she’ll get specialized care for pediatric spinal injuries.

Alexis was on a life-support respirator until Sunday night, but is now breathing on her own. She underwent surgery to repair a deep gash in her face. It is not known whether she’ll have motor function or sight in her right eye.

CHP officer Michael Cregger said Myrtle told him that the two little girls were in their booster seats with their seat belts fastened when the crash happened. But he said the girls had a habit of taking the shoulder belts and tucking them underneath the arm rests of the booster seats.

When Cregger asked Myrtle if that is how the seat belts were positioned on the girls, he “looked down, started crying and shaking his head yes,” the CHP report stated.

Myrtle told officers he had smoked medical marijuana several hours before the accident. Officers found two prescription bottles for methadone and alprazolam (Xanax) in Myrtle’s car.

When officers interviewed Myrtle at the hospital following the accident, he said he had taken two methadone pills around 2 p.m. on the day of the crash and alprazolam about an hour after that. He told officers he takes the methadone for back pain and the other medication for anxiety.

Myrtle remains in Shasta County jail in lieu of $100,000 bail. He faces felony charges for driving under the influence with numerous enhancements for grave bodily injury, and child endangerment. Read the court documents for full details about the charges.

The girls’ mother, Amanda Pevehouse, told the Mt. Shasta newspaper that she’s taking it all one step at a time and is grateful for all the support she has received.

“Thank you to everyone who has been praying for my babies,” she said. “We’re thankful they’re alive.”

A community fund to help Pevehouse and her daughters has been set up at PremierWest Bank. The account number is 68016754. Donations can be made at any PremierWest Bank branch.

Redding Car Accident Lawyers

The trial attorneys at Blackman Legal Group, a California-based law firm founded by renowned trial attorney Clifford Blackman, have successfully represented car accident victims and their families for 35 years. The nationwide toll-free number to call for a free consultation is 1-866-692-8126.

CHP officer Doreen Shaw was arrested on felony DUI charges in Redding. (Inset: Redding Record-Searchlight)

With more than 3,500 drunk driving deaths every year in California, it’s shocking news when a California Highway Patrol officer — 42-year-old Doreen Bernice Shaw of Redding – is charged with felony drunk driving.

•   A CHP officer, who was driving drunk, plowed into a group of cars waiting at a railroad crossing.

•   Local police officers who responded to the DUI crash said the CHP officer was so drunk she couldn’t stand. 

•   The CHP officer allegedly screamed profanities at the local officers, tried to get away, and became violent.  

•   She is charged with felony drunk driving and resisting arrest.

Shaw, who was named officer of the year in 2001, cried when she walked into the Shasta County Superior Court on Thursday, according to a report in the Redding Record-Searchlight.

The 17-year veteran CHP officer composed herself and heard the charges against her — two counts of felony DUI with injury, one misdemeanor count of resisting or obstructing officers, and a series of enhancements. (Read the court documents.)

Shaw did not enter a plea. She remains free on her own recognizance and is scheduled to return to court at the end of the month for further arraignment.

The accident in question occurred just after 11 p.m. on January 14, on Highway 273 and South Bonnyview Road. According to a Redding police report, Shaw said that she was an alcoholic and had been drinking all day before the accident. The report states that her blood alcohol level was 0.20 percent, more than twice the legal limit of o.08 percent.

Redding police Sgt. Casey Bokavich told the newspaper earlier that Shaw plowed her 2007 GMC Envoy into the back of a pickup truck that was stopped behind two other cars. The vehicles were waiting for a train to pass at a railroad crossing.

The people in the car closest to the tracks told the Shasta County district attorney’s office they were terrified that their car was going to be rammed into the train, an investigator’s report said.

Four people were injured in the accident.

Police officers said Shaw was so drunk she could barely stand up. They said they tried to treat her very respectfully because they knew she was a CHP officer, but she was extremely belligerent and combative. She reportedly screamed profanities at the officers and rammed one in the side with his patrol car door. She allegedly tried to walk away from officers after she was handcuffed and then kneed an officer in the thigh.

Shaw has been placed on restrictive assignment at the CHP’s Cottonwood truck inspection facility.

Redding Drunk Driving Accident Lawyers

The trial attorneys at Blackman Legal Group, a California-based law firm founded by renowned trial attorney Clifford Blackman, have successfully represented drunk driving accident victims and their families for 35 years. The nationwide toll-free number to call for a free consultation is 1-866-692-8126.