Suspected drunk driver accused of causing fatal crash enters plea in Fresno County court
The Fresno woman accused of driving drunk, running a stop sign and causing a fatal crash in southwest Fresno County pleaded not guilty to gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated and other related charges.
Zdeineb Juarez Calderon, 22, made a brief court appearance in Department 34 Tuesday before Superior Court Judge Jonathan Skiles.
Calderon, who was arrested in February for DUI, is being held at the Fresno County Jail with bail set at $188,219.
The California Highway Patrol said the crash happened on April 7 at about 6:30 p.m. in the intersection of South Brawley and West Church avenues.
The victim, 59-year-old Jeffrey Nazaroff of Kerman, was driving a dump truck, heading south on Brawley. As he approached the intersection at Church with no stop sign, a Jeep Wrangler, driven by Calderon, appeared to run the stop sign at Church, slamming into Nazaroff.
The collision sent Nazaroff’s dump truck careening into the front yard of a nearby home, striking a tree and nearly crashing into the home.
Nazaroff died at the scene.
Fresno County Sheriff’s spokesman Tony Botti said last week that Nazaroff was “just a few hundred feet away from the yard where he parks his truck at the end of the day.”
Calderon was arrested in February on suspicion of DUI.
