A 35-year-old man was sentenced Thursday to more than 10 years in prison for a drunken driving crash that killed an 82-year-old man on Mother’s Day in Buena Park.
Steven Gerard Cruz was convicted Aug. 28 of gross vehicular manslaughter and driving under the influence of alcohol causing injury and driving with a blood-alcohol content exceeding .08 percent causing injury. Jurors also found true four sentencing enhancement allegations of causing great bodily injury, according to Senior Deputy District Attorney Daniel Feldman.
Cruz was sentenced to 10 years and eight months in prison.
The victim, William Bradford Parker of La Mirada, was driving a 2000 Toyota Avalon with his wife and their daughter as passengers on May 10, 2015, as they celebrated Mother’s Day together at an El Torito restaurant, when Cruz slammed his 2006 Nissan Titan into Parker’s car, Feldman said.
Parker’s wife and daughter sustained broken ribs among other injuries in the crash, Feldman said.
Parker was turning right out of the parking lot when Cruz’s pickup truck collided with Parker’s car, Feldman said. Cruz was driving about 90 mph on Orangethorpe Avenue with a blood-alcohol content of .11 percent, above the legal limit of .08 percent, Feldman said.
Cruz told police he was trying to make a yellow light and admitted drinking two Budweiser beers and smoking marijuana the day before, Feldman said.