Driver Convicted in Deadly Boardwalk Rampage

A man who drove a car on the crowded Venice boardwalk, striking several pedestrians and killing an Italian woman on her honeymoon, was convicted today of second-degree murder.

Nathan Louis Campbell’s attorney conceded during the trial that his 39- year-old client was behind the wheel of the car that barreled down the boardwalk on Aug. 3, 2013, but said Campbell was actually doing everything he could to avoid striking pedestrians. In addition to the murder count, Campbell was also convicted of 17 counts of assault with a deadly weapon and 10 counts of leaving the scene of an accident.

In his opening statement, Deputy District Attorney Victor Avila told jurors that Campbell was angry because he believed a drug dealer had cheated his friend and threatened to run the dealer over. Instead, Campbell struck 32- year-old Alice Gruppioni and 17 other people with his 2008 blue Dodge Avenger, with the Italian woman “on the hood of his car for over 300 feet” before her body slid off, the prosecutor said.

Campbell had “full knowledge” of how crowded Venice’s Ocean Front Walk was because surveillance footage showed him walking on the popular tourist destination earlier that day, the deputy district attorney said.

Campbell walked into the Santa Monica Police Department a few hours after the driving down the boardwalk and said, “I’m the one you’re looking for. I’m the one who hit all those people,” the prosecutor said.

A blood test performed at 2:26 a.m. -- hours after the car careened down the boardwalk -- showed Campbell’s blood-alcohol content at 0.09, just over the legal limit, Avila said.

Defense attorney James P. Cooper, however, told the seven-woman, five- man jury that his client was not a party to the drug transaction. He acknowledged that Campbell drove onto the boardwalk -- although he did not explain why -- but said the car struck several objects before hitting any people.

“He did avoid hitting many more people by taking that S-like route down the boardwalk,” the defense attorney said.

City News Service

Photo: Patch Archive