Fresno judge has no sympathy for 5-time DUI driver who injured two. She’s going to prison
A 26-year-old Fresno woman with a history of drunk driving arrests was sentenced to eight years in prison Wednesday for a hit-and-run crash last year near Fresno City College.
April Lorraine McGuffick is accused of smashing into a car at Blackstone and Cambridge avenues at about 3:40 p.m. April 8, injuring two people.
Deputy District Attorney Steven Ueltzen said the force of the crash caused the other car to plow through a metal fence and onto the athletic fields at the junior college.
“The two occupants of the car were unconscious,” Ueltzen said. “One had a broken leg, the other had broken ankle. Both had other various injuries.”
A third passenger in the car had some bruising and facial lacerations.
McGuffick fled from the crash but was arrested eight months later and faced 10 charges. She also had two other pending DUI cases.
In July, she pleaded no contest to four charges: DUI causing injury under the combined influence of drugs and alcohol; failure to stop at a hit-and-run accident with injuries; hit and run with property damage and driving with a suspended driver’s license.
She also admitted to having a blood alcohol content of .15 or higher during one of her other DUI cases.
Ueltzen pushed for a sentence of eight years in prison and Judge Heather Mardel Jones agreed.
The judge noted that McGuffick has five DUI violations since 2015.
“I find that her prior convictions as an adult are now numerous and they are increasing in seriousness, she was also on misdemeanor probation at the time this crime was committed,” Jones said.
McGuffick will also have her driving privileges revoked for five years and will have to install an ignition interlock device that prevents a user from starting their vehicle until a breath alcohol test has been taken.
This story was originally published August 19, 2021 at 7:30 AM.
