Crime & Safety
Pleasanton Nurse Gets 6 Years For San Lorenzo Fatal Crash
Michelle Biala used marijuana and prescription meds before hitting victim in his car, disabled with a flat tire, on I-880, officials said.
DUBLIN, CA – A Pleasanton woman was sentenced today to six years in state prison for killing a Sunnyvale man in a crash in San Lorenzo in unincorporated Alameda County three years ago.
Former registered nurse Michelle Biala, 33, was convicted on April 30 of gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated for the death of Steven Lin, 38, on July 13, 2015.
She was sentenced by Alameda County Superior Court Judge Michael Gaffey.
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Alameda County prosecutors said Lin, who was driving a Toyota Prius, ran over something in the roadway on southbound Interstate Highway 880 just south of state Highway 238 at about 9:45 p.m. on July 13, 2015, and
suffered a flat tire.
Lin pulled his car to the shoulder, activated his flashing lights and remained buckled while he called for a tow, according to prosecutors.
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Several other vehicles also had flat tires and were parked on the shoulder of Highway 880.
A short time later, at 9:57 p.m., Biala was driving southbound on Highway 880 when she swerved her 2007 Chevy Trailblazer across several lanes and collided with the Prius, killing Lin, prosecutors said.
A blood test two hours after the crash showed that Biala had significant levels of marijuana and Ambien, a sleeping pill, according to prosecutors.
Biala, who was a registered nurse at the time, had marijuana in her purse and an Ambien pill bottle that she had picked up from a pharmacy two hours before the crash that had five of its 10 pills missing, prosecutors
said.
Two years before the crash Biala had been convicted of "wet" reckless driving and was ordered to attend a 30-hour DUI class, according to prosecutors.
Five months prior to the crash, Biala was arrested for DUI for an incident in which she was found disoriented on the side of a freeway with damage to her vehicle, prosecutors said.
Biala admitted at that time that she had used marijuana, Xanax and Valium and was too high to drive, according to prosecutors.
PREVIOUS COVERAGE:
- Pleasanton Woman Convicted Of Gross Vehicular Manslaughter
- Sunnyvale Man Killed, Pleasanton Woman Arrested in San Lorenzo Fatal Crash
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