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SANTA ANA (CNS) - A 23-year-old man pleaded guilty and was immediately sentenced to more than five years in prison Friday for a drunken driving wrong-way crash that killed a 22-year-old woman on the Santa Ana (5) Freeway in Tustin.
Dylan Erric James Robinson of Altadena pleaded guilty to gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated, driving under the influence of alcohol causing injury, driving under the influence with a blood-alcohol content above the legal limit of .08%, and driving under the influence of alcohol and drug while causing injury, all felonies. Robinson also admitted sentencing enhancements for inflicting great bodily injury on the victims.
Senior Deputy District Attorney Brian Orue objected to the plea deal from Orange County Superior Court Judge Larry Yellin, who sentenced Robinson to five years and eight months in prison. The defendant had just five days of credit behind bars.
The defendant's attorney, Amber Poston of the Public Defender's Office, argued in court papers for probation and noted he has "experienced significant trauma in his life," but did not specify for the public record what the trauma was.
Yellin recommended fire camp for the defendant.
The California Highway Patrol received calls that Robinson, who had a blood-alcohol level about twice the legal limit, was driving a 2015 Toyota Prius northbound in the southbound diamond lane on the Costa Mesa (55) Freeway at the San Diego (405) Freeway early Oct. 2, 2022.
By the time an officer arrived in the area three minutes later Robinson was entering the southbound Santa Ana (5) Freeway HOV transition road to the southbound Costa Mesa (55) transition road going northbound, according to the CHP.
The CHP officer turned around, came upon the collision between Robinson's car and another vehicle on the southbound Santa Ana Freeway HOV transition road to the southbound Costa Mesa Freeway about 2:15 a.m., the CHP reported.
The Prius was speeding north in the southbound lanes before it slammed into a white Subaru Outback southbound on the southbound Santa Ana Freeway transition to southbound Costa Mesa Freeway, the CHP reported.
Both vehicles sustained major front-end damage and ended up on the right shoulder and HOV lane, the CHP reported.
Reinne J. Lim, a 22-year-old Anaheim resident, who was in the front passenger seat of the Subaru, was pronounced dead at the scene. The Subaru's driver, Tommy Le, 22, of Costa Mesa, broke his right leg and right hand, the CHP reported.
Robinson sustained multiple cuts on his legs, arms and head and was taken to OC Global Medical Center to be treated, the CHP reported.