Driver of U-Haul Truck Charged in Fatal DUI Accident

March 19, 2012 - According to reports the driver of a U-Haul truck has been charged in a fatal DUI accident.

According to Orange County District Attorney’s Office, Dustin David Lish age 19 of La Habra has been charged with one felony count of vehicular manslaughter with gross negligence while under the influence. He faces sentencing enhancements for fleeing the scene of the accident.

The District Attorney’s office said that Lish can face up to 15 years in state prison for the fatal accident. D.A. officials said Lish was drinking alcohol with friends and then his sister drove Lish and a friend to a U-Haul facility located on Lambert Road in La Habra, where Lish was employed.

Lish and his friend rented a truck for a place to hang out, authorities said. Authorities said when renting the truck the manager could see that Lish was visibly intoxicated and refused to let him drive the truck.

D.A. officials said that Lish and his friend later traded places, so Lish could drive and at approximately 5:40 p.m. Lish is alleged to have been driving erratically at high rates of speed, veering into oncoming traffic on the wrong side of the road.
Lish sideswiped a Nissan SUV, causing the driver to swerve to avoid a head-on collision. Lish still traveling on the wrong side of the road struck a Hyundai Accent head-on, with an impact that pushed it into the car behind the Accent.

Lish and his friend fled the scene of the head-on crash on foot and was found by La Habra police officers later, hiding in a vehicle storage area approximately 200 feet from the crash. The driver of the Hyundai Accent was identified as Joseph Quezada age 20, who was transported from the scene of the accident and later died at the hospital.
D.A. officials said that Lish’s blood alcohol was 0.16 percent three hours after the crash. Prosecutors plan to ask Lish be taken into custody and held on $250,000 bail.