SANTA ANA (CNS) - A Diamond Bar man who was previously convicted of driving under the influence in Riverside was found guilty Wednesday in Santa Ana of triggering a fatal wrong-way crash on the border of Irvine and Tustin while eluding police.
Pedro Pantoja Jr., 31, was convicted of second-degree murder, driving under the influence of a drug causing injury, unlawful taking of a vehicle and evading a peace officer-reckless driving, all felonies, as well as misdemeanor counts of possession of drug paraphernalia and driving on a suspended or revoked driver's license due to a previous DUI.
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Jurors also found true a sentencing enhancement allegation of inflicting great bodily injury on a woman who was a passenger in his car.
He is scheduled to be sentenced Oct. 20.
Pantoja has a prior felony conviction for leading police on a chase in 2017, and a prior DUI out of Riverside in 2013, Deputy District Attorney Brian Orue said previously.
According to prosecutors, Tustin police were called about 8:45 a.m. April 18, 2021, to the District at Tustin Legacy shopping center because a driver appeared to be passed out in an In-N-Out drive-thru.
Prosecutors said Pantoja fled in a stolen car from Tustin police at a high rate of speed through a Costco gas station while other drivers were pumping gas. He also ran a red light before heading northbound in the southbound lanes of Jamboree Road.
Pantoja went about 300 yards before slamming head-on into a vehicle driven by 62-year-old David Kawashima of Orange at Jamboree near Warner Avenue, Irvine police reported. Kawashima was pronounced dead at the scene.
[iframe https://www.google.com/maps/embed?pb=!4v1692827771152!6m8!1m7!1st3NkyPq1kPjQt1XzDVKkiA!2m2!1d33.69411577163735!2d-117.8265978679033!3f0.691526!4f0!5f0.7820865974627469 allowfullscreen="" height="450" loading="lazy" referrerpolicy="no-referrer-when-downgrade" style="border:0" width="600"]Pantoja was hospitalized after the crash. The woman in Pantoja's car was also hospitalized with injuries that were not life-threatening.
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