Member of Fresno raisin giant family sentenced in hit-and-run crash that injured cyclist
The hit-and-run driver who slammed into a bicyclist on Audubon Drive, causing him major injuries, was sentenced to two years in prison on Tuesday.
Vinson Lion, 26 of Fresno, pleaded no contest to felony charges of hit-and-run resulting in permanent injury and driving a vehicle recklessly, causing injury.
Police said Lion was driving a GMC Yukon erratically on westbound Audubon Drive, near Quincy Avenue, at about 2:30 p.m. on July 2, 2019 when he attempted to pass a car on the right by pulling into the bike lane. That’s when he slammed into David Eiman of Fresno.
His lawyer, Dan Bacon, said Lion was too young for prison and urged Judge Michael Idiart to consider probation for Lion, whose family company, Lion Raisins, is one of the largest industrial raisin suppliers in the world. Bacon also argued that Lion was dealing with a substance abuse problem at the time and made bad decisions that he regrets today.
Police found empty canisters of nitrous oxide in Lion’s Yukon. Users of nitrous oxide, commonly referred to as laughing gas, like the quick euphoric high it gives. Bacon said Lion has received treatment for his substance abuse.
While Judge Michael Idiart supported Lion’s efforts at getting clean, he still denied the request for probation, saying Lion acted recklessly and with seemingly no regard for the life of the victim.
“He knew he hit somebody, he made a statement that he had hit someone and he knew it, but he still left the scene,” Idiart said. “And when he got home he made efforts to conceal the vehicle and lied about owning the vehicle.”
Eiman, who spoke to the court Tuesday via Zoom, said the crash didn’t just brake his bones it robbed him of his lifelong passion of riding a bike. That morning Eiman was wrapping up a ride into the foothills and was just a few miles from his northwest Fresno home when Lion’s SUV came up behind him.
“I was rear ended at a high rate of speed by a very heavy vehicle driven by Vinson Lion, who just left me for dead, laying in the gutter,” Eiman said. “And then he drove away.”
Fortunately for Eiman, others were there and called 911. He was taken to Community Regional Medical Center where he underwent 10 hours of surgery. His broken pelvis was bolted back together as was his upper spine. He also suffered severe road rash, bruising, nerve damage to his legs and a concussion.
After 23 days under medical care, he was allowed to go home where he spent several months recuperating in a hospital bed installed in his home.
He is by no means back to his old self, he said. He struggles with post traumatic stress disorder and his brain is still a little foggy.
“It hardly seems right that the defendant has suffered no punishment yet the victim has suffered every day since the day of the impact,” Eiman said. “This has truly ruined my life.”
This story was originally published March 24, 2021 at 5:00 AM.
