Former Pleasanton Police Sergeant Charged In Fatal DUI Crash

PLEASANTON, CA — A retired East Bay police sergeant was charged Monday with murder in connection with a deadly DUI crash last week.

Theodore Young, 63, of Sonora was previously convicted of a misdemeanor DUI in September 2017 and was arrested again on Saturday after his involvement in a crash that killed a 27-year-old woman, according to a release from the Tuolumne County District Attorney’s Office.

Young — a retired police sergeant with the Pleasanton Police Department — faces charges of murder, gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated causing brain injury, and driving with a blood alcohol concentration of 0.08 percent or higher causing brain injury with a prior driving under the influence conviction, according to a news release.

"Under California case law ... individuals who have been previously convicted of driving under the influence, or individuals who knew or should have known that driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs is dangerous to human life can be charged with second-degree murder,” District Attorney Cassandra Jenecke said Monday, according to the San Francisco Chronicle.

Rebekah Gall, 27, died of injuries sustained from the Jan. 18 crash on State Route 108 near Chicken Ranch Road in Tuolumne County.

"Our thoughts are with Rebekah's family and our community as we all mourn another senseless tragedy caused by drunk driving," officials wrote in a statement.