Repeat drunk driver who seriously injured Marine veteran in Fresno sentenced
A Mendota man who seriously injured a motorcyclist while driving drunk was sentenced to four years, four months in prison on Wednesday.
Guadalupe Lopez, 33, was arrested Aug. 10 last year after running a red light at Herndon and Hayes avenues at about 7:30 p.m.
Lopez’s Honda Fit slammed into a Harley Davidson motorcycle driven by David Bacon, 47.
Bacon, a Marine veteran, suffered numerous injuries including a shattered shoulder, broken hip, broken foot and a spinal fracture. He also suffered post traumatic stress disorder from the crash, and his recovery took 11 months, four of which were spent in a wheelchair.
Lopez, who had a previous DUI on his record, was charged with DUI causing major injuries, to which he pleaded no contest.
His blood alcohol concentration was 0.17, twice the state legal limit of 0.08.
During his sentencing Wednesday, Lopez’s defense attorney Chris Caine urged Judge Michael Idiart to grant his client some leniency. Caine wanted probation for Lopez, not prison.
Caine said Lopez, who also goes by Guadalupe Verdugo, is the sole provider for his five children and his wife. If he were given the maximum of six years in prison, his family would be devastated, his attorney argued.
“They would be out on the street,” Caine said.
Lopez’s sister said her brother is extremely remorseful and is not a bad person. She said he has dedicated his life to working with school children in rural areas. But he’s also struggled. She said their father was an alcoholic and abusive to the family. Her brother doesn’t want to go down that path and is seeking help for alcohol addiction.
“He has been sober since August, he’s a good person and I love him,” she said as she hugged Lopez.
Prosecutor Esmeralda Garcia and Bacon, the crash victim, asked the judge for the maximum sentence of six years.
Garcia, who handles DUI cases, said most drunk drivers she prosecutes aren’t necessarily bad people. But, they make bad decisions that have serious consequences.
“These aren’t just mistakes,” she said. “These are crimes.”
Bacon said he also grew up with alcoholism in his family, but he knows not to drink and drive.
He was on his way to his 18-year-old daughter’s birthday when Lopez smashed into his motorcycle. Unlike Lopez, Bacon said he wasn’t able to cut a deal or plea bargain.
“I didn’t get a choice,” Bacon said. “I was sentenced the day a drunk driver ran the red light and nearly killed me. Where’s the justice for that? ”
Judge Idiart told Lopez he was sentencing him to prison because this was his second DUI, he injured someone, and his blood alcohol concentration was high.
Before being taken into custody, Lopez asked the judge if he could report to prison at a later date because he was helping some students with a class project.
Idiart said no. “When something like this happens there are consequences,” the judge said. “And those consequences also have a rippling effect.”
This story was originally published November 20, 2019 at 4:22 PM.
