Preliminary Hearing Set for Motorist in Teen-Injuring DUI Crash

A motorist who was allegedly drunk when his of a car in Rancho Bernardo, leaving a young woman with a serious brain injury, is scheduled to appear at the downtown courthouse on Thursday for a preliminary hearing that will determine if he will stand trial.

Brian LaRose, who is free on $100,000 bail, faces DUI charges in connection with the Aug. 20 accident on Bernardo Center Driver near Maturin Drive that injured Heidi Wise.

Deputy District Attorney Chandelle Konstanzer said Wise was in the left turn lane when her car was rear-ended. A witness said LaRose was traveling about 60 mph in an area where the posted speed limit is 35 or 40 mph, according to the prosecutor.

LaRose's blood-alcohol level was .36 percent—more than four times the legal limit for driving—about an hour and 15 minutes after the crash, Konstanzer said.

The defendant admitted having 10 drinks, first at a pub and then at a restaurant, before the collision, the prosecutor said. Family members said LaRose was supposed to be at an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting that night, Konstanzer said.

The victim, who spent her 19th birthday in a hospital bed, suffered head trauma, a broken rib and fractured vertebrae, the prosecutor said. The young woman also has memory loss, and doctors don't know if she'll fully recover, according to Konstanzer.

The defendant faces six years in prison if convicted of DUI causing injury and driving with a blood-alcohol level of .08 percent or higher. A judge will decide at the end of the preliminary hearing whether enough evidence was presented for LaRose to stand trial.

-City News Service