Costa Mesa man charged with murder after a fatal DUI crash in Fountain Valley

Kevin Cooper, a 52-year-old Costa Mesa man, is facing a murder charge over a fatal DUI crash in Fountain Valley in February.

Cooper has been charged with one count of second-degree murder in the Feb. 26 crash just before 5 p.m. at Euclid Street and Slater Avenue that killed Thomas Leppin, a 54-year-old Garden Grove resident, according to the police.

Leppin was driving a Dodge Caravan and he was pronounced dead at the scene. He was turning left from southbound Euclid onto eastbound Slater when his vehicle was struck by a 2022 Toyota Camry that was proceeding northbound on Euclid. That Camry was allegedly driven by Cooper.

Fountain Valley Police Dept. Traffic Investigators responded to the scene and collected evidence after the crash. Cooper, the driver of the Camry, was found to be driving under the influence. The case was submitted to the OCDA for an arrest warrant which was issued this week.

Cooper was arrested on August 10, at his home in Costa Mesa, and he is being held on $1 million bail. He is set to be arraigned on Friday in the jail courtroom in Santa Ana, for the PC-187(a) murder.