Man charged with DUI in fatal Fresno crash has serious criminal past
The Fresno man charged with DUI in the crash that killed a 19-year-old has a criminal past, according to court records.
James Mitchell Anderson, 26, is charged with gross vehicular manslaughter and driving under the influence causing injury in the Saturday afternoon crash in northeast Fresno that killed Carson Gates and injured Gates’ girlfriend.
The Fresno County District Attorney’s Office said Anderson was previously convicted for assault with a firearm upon a peace officer in 2013. According to the Santa Cruz Sentinel, Anderson pointed a stolen gun at a Watsonville police sergeant and led him on a chase over rooftops and through backyards.
If convicted in the Fresno case, Anderson faces a sentence of up to 27 years and four months in state prison.
He remained in custody and was scheduled to be arraigned in Fresno County Superior Court on Wednesday.
Fresno police said Anderson was allegedly driving under the influence of a combination of drugs and alcohol at the time of the crash. Anderson was driving his pickup truck eastbound on Nees Avenue approaching the intersection with Chestnut Avenue. Anderson ran a red light and broadsided a sedan carrying Gates and the 17-year-old driver, identified by Gates’ cousin as Gates’ girlfriend. She also was injured.
