Man convicted for deadly wrong-way crash in Orange County.
Suspect Found Guilty in Fatal Wrong-Way Crash
In a shocking turn of events, Pedro Pantoja Jr., a Diamond Bar man with a history of driving under the influence, has been convicted of triggering a fatal wrong-way crash on the border of Irvine and Tustin. The incident occurred while he was attempting to evade police.
Pantoja, 31, has been found guilty of several charges, including second-degree murder, driving under the influence of a drug causing injury, unlawful taking of a vehicle, and evading a peace officer-reckless driving. Additionally, he faces misdemeanor counts for possession of drug paraphernalia and driving on a suspended or revoked driver’s license due to a previous DUI.
Furthermore, jurors have confirmed the allegation that Pantoja inflicted great bodily injury on a woman who was a passenger in his car.
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Pantoja is set to be sentenced on October 20.
Notably, this is not Pantoja’s first encounter with the law. He has a prior felony conviction for leading police on a chase in 2017 and a previous DUI offense in Riverside back in 2013, according to Deputy District Attorney Brian Orue.
The incident leading to Pantoja’s conviction unfolded when Tustin police received a call on April 18, 2021, about a driver who appeared to be unconscious in an In-N-Out drive-thru at the District at Tustin Legacy shopping center.
Prosecutors revealed that Pantoja fled from Tustin police in a stolen vehicle, reaching dangerously high speeds even as other drivers were pumping gas at a nearby Costco gas station. He further disregarded traffic signals, ultimately driving northbound in the southbound lanes of Jamboree Road.
Tragically, Pantoja’s reckless actions resulted in a head-on collision with a vehicle driven by 62-year-old David Kawashima of Orange near Jamboree and Warner Avenue. Regrettably, Mr. Kawashima lost his life at the scene.
Following the crash, Pantoja and the woman in his car were both hospitalized. Fortunately, the woman’s injuries were not life-threatening.
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