A homeless woman and her dog killed by a drunk driver. Tragedy can strike at any time, in the least expected places. This became all too clear early Monday morning in Santa Rosa, California, when a homeless woman and her dog, both sleeping peacefully in a parked SUV, were crashed into and killed by a man in a vehicle suspected of driving under the influence of alcohol.
It was three o’clock in the morning when officers responded to the report of a crash following a man losing control of his vehicle, a black Dodge Challenger, on Hoen Avenue. Upon arriving at the scene of the accident, not only the homeless woman and drivers’ cars were damaged, but also a third car. One of the cars, a white Mazda, was hit so hard that it ended up in someone’s front yard.
The driver, Angel Ivan Martinez, was treated for minor injuries after the crash but was ultimately taken into custody for suspected vehicular manslaughter with DUI and two other counts of felony DUI. The accident he caused not only killed a woman and her dog, but caused a power outage across the neighborhood in which the accident took place and damaged city power lines.
The woman killed in the parked SUV has yet to be identified, but was assumed to be living in her car when it was struck, and hit so hard that it flew into another parked car, also causing damage to it. Thankfully, no one was inside this other car, possibly sparing another life from being taken by this tragic accident.
Car accidents are often horrific, and almost always unexpected, as proven by this extremely heartbreaking story. If you or a loved one has been injured in an auto accident, contact our law firm to learn more about how we can help and to get a free case review.