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Man Sentenced to Prison After West Covina Police Pursuit, Crash

On July 26, a 28-year-old man was sentenced to 24 years in state prison after being involved in a police pursuit that ended with a three-car collision injuring a total of nine people, the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office announced.

Car_crash_scene_with_police_nobody_hurtRobert Anthony Lopez was found guilty by a jury of three counts in case KA113053: driving with a .08 percent blood alcohol content causing injury within 10 years of another DUI offense, driving under the influence of alcohol causing injury within 10 years of another DUI offense, and fleeing a pursuing peace officer’s motor vehicle causing serious bodily injury.

Jurors also discovered true special allegations that the defendant has recently been convicted of reckless driving in 2015 and driving with a .08 percent blood alcohol content or more.

The defendant pleaded no contest to a count of driving when revoked or privilege suspended after a prior offense at an earlier court date.

On July 18, 2016, the prosecutor of the case, Deputy District Attorney Lauren Guber said that officers observed a man driving an Acura driving above the speed limit and failing to halt at a stop sign.

Police attempted to pull over the driver, later identified as Lopez, however the defendant failed to top and continued to drive at increased speeds.

Lopez continued on to collide into another car at the intersection of Francisquito and Walnut avenues, which resulted in the three-car collision that seriously injured nine people, including a 18-month-old girl and a 7-year-old.

The prosecutor added that following the crash, officials proceeded to extract Lopez from his vehicle.

The case was investigated by the West Covina Police Department and California Highway Patrol.