VISTA–An intoxicated driver who fatally struck a pedestrian Monday morning while he walked along the 4000 block of Mission Avenue in Oceanside pleaded not guilty to gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated and hit-and-run causing death.
Authorities say 29 year-old Esteysi Izazaga Sanchez allegedly continued driving her Pontiac sedan after the pedestrian, identified as 69 year-old Jack Ray Tenhulzen, was thrown through the windshield, landed in Sanchez’s passenger seat, and severed a leg which landed on the vehicle’s trunk. She drove to Magdalena Drive, parked about a block from her home, and walk away. Oceanside police arrested Sanchez after her live-in boyfriend reported the incident.
Sanchez also was charged with two DUI counts and driving without a license. Her bail was set at $1.5 million.
Deputy District Attorney Aimee McLeod says Immigration Customs Enforcement has placed a “hold” on Sanchez.
“She was going so fast she literally stripped him out of his clothing,” McLeod said in court. McLeod said Sanchez’s blood-alcohol content was between .18 and .19 percent which was above the legal limit of .08.
According to McLeod, Sanchez had “broken pieces of windshield glass stuck in her hair” at the time of her arrest.
The judge set a preliminary hearing August 9 at the Vista court.
