Leonardo Morales, a 23-year-old man, was sentenced Tuesday to seven years in prison for a drunken driving crash in which the SUV he was driving erupted into flames just before two California Highway Patrol officers rescued him, a woman and their two young children, according to the O.C. Register.
Morales had previously pleaded guilty on June 10 to driving under the influence of alcohol causing injury, driving with a blood-alcohol level exceeding the legal limit of .08 percent or more causing injury as well and two counts of child abuse and endangerment – all felony charges.
Morales also admitted to sentencing enhancement allegations of inflicting great bodily injury and causing great bodily injury on a child younger than 5 and he also pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor count of driving on a suspended or revoked license.
Morales crashed into a tree on the northbound Costa Mesa (55) Freeway off-ramp to 17th Street about 3:50 a.m., in a 2001 Chevrolet Tahoe, on April 13, 2015, according to the CHP.
Two CHP officers patrolling the area called dispatchers when they saw flames at the scene of the crash but were they were too far down the off-ramp to respond to the scene. Because of this quick response, two other CHP officers, Daryl Hansen and Timothy Montoya, were able to get to the victims before they were killed.
The CHP Officers saw Morales lying on the ground, when they arrived, and a toddler was dashing around while 22-year-old Kathy De Rosa was stuck in the front passenger seat of the damaged vehicle. The toddler was crying and pointing at the Tahoe, according to the CHP officers.
The officers heard a baby crying in the back seat of the Tahoe as they tried to pull De Rosa out. That baby was bloodied and lying face down, on the floor of the rear driver’s seat. At that point the Tahoe was fully on fire.
Officer Montoya grabbed the baby and took her to safety. Then the two officers were able to get De Rosa out of the vehicle as well.
The two adults ended up at Western Medical Center in Santa Ana and the children were taken to Children’s Hospital Orange County.
The baby, who was a 9-month-old, had “serious cuts to her legs and feet,” according to the OCFA. The toddler, who was a 2-year-old boy, had a head injury and a deep bruise on his head. Morales ended up with a back injury and De Rosa had cuts on her face.
Both Morales and De Rosa were previously arrested on Aug. 31, 2014 in another DUI case. In that case Morales pleaded guilty to DUI driving under the influence of alcohol and driving on a suspended license, while De Rosa pleaded guilty to misdemeanor resisting arrest.
In that case De Rosa had been accused of brandishing a deadly weapon in front of an officer in the arrest, but the charge was dismissed as part of a plea deal.
De Rosa pleaded guilty to DUI driving , driving with a blood-alcohol level over the legal limit of .08, child abuse and endangerment and driving without a valid driver’s license, all misdemeanors charges, on March 13, 2015.
That plea was a result of an arrest on Dec. 14, 2014, in Santa Ana, in which she was charged with DUI driving with a blood-alcohol level of .20 and causing injury to her children in the car.
At that time De Rosa was placed on four years of informal probation and she was ordered to participate in an alcohol program for first offenders and a child abuser’s treatment program.
Morales has had trouble paying more than $4,000 in fines related to his various convictions, which include driving on a suspended license back in 2012.
Morales was sentenced to three years of informal probation and ordered to participate in an alcohol program for first offenders, in September of 2014.
This couple apparently will never learn.
