OC Man Charged In Fatal DUI Crash, Faces Murder Charge

ORANGE COUNTY, CA — A 52-year-old Costa Mesa man is scheduled to be arraigned Friday on a murder charge in a fatal DUI crash in Fountain Valley in February.

Kevin Cooper has been charged with one count of second-degree murder in the Feb. 26 crash just before 5 p.m. at Euclid Street and Slater Avenue that killed 54-year-old Thomas Leppin of Garden Grove, police said.

Leppin, who was behind the wheel of a Dodge Caravan, was pronounced dead at the scene. He was turning left from southbound Euclid onto eastbound Slater when the vehicle was struck by a 2022 Toyota Camry northbound on Euclid, police said.

Cooper, who was being held on $1 million bail, was arrested Wednesday, according to jail records. His occupation was listed as student. Cooper was scheduled to be arraigned Friday in the jail courtroom in Santa Ana.