A 59-year-old San Juan Capistrano man was charged Thursday with second-degree murder for allegedly running down a 13-year-old boy at a Dana Point intersection and fleeing the scene.
Bradley Gene Funk, 59, was also charged with hit-and-run causing death stemming from the Tuesday morning crash that killed 13-year-old Luis Adrian Morales-Pacheco of San Juan Capistrano.
He was expected to be arraigned Thursday afternoon in Santa Ana. Funk, who was on probation at the time of Tuesday’s fatal crash, is also being held on an alleged probation violation.
According to the Orange County Sheriff’s Department, deputies responded at about 8:20 a.m. Tuesday to Dana Point Harbor Drive and Park Lantern on a report of a crash involving a vehicle and a pedestrian.
“Deputies located the juvenile victim with pretty severe injuries,” Sgt. Lizbeth Gwisdalla said.
Sheriff’s officials said the motorist apparently drove onto a curb and struck the boy, who was walking to school with his brother, who was not injured.
Funk fled after striking the boy, but witnesses helped deputies identify and locate the driver about two or three miles away from the crash scene, Gwisdalla said. Sheriff’s officials said they believed Funk was driving impaired.
“Unfortunately, the 13-year-old boy was pronounced dead (at a) hospital,” Gwisdalla said.
According to court records, Funk accepted a plea deal on July 22, 2021, that resolved two DUI cases against him. As a result of that deal, he is on probation until July 21, 2026.
Funk pleaded guilty to misdemeanor hit-and-run with property damage and driving under the influence of alcohol for an incident July 13, 2020, according to court records. He also pleaded guilty to driving under the influence of alcohol on July 10, 2020, according to court records.
Both DUI cases occurred in San Juan Capistrano, with sheriff’s deputies arresting him in one case and the California Highway Patrol in the other, according to court records.
As part of his plea deal, he was sentenced to 240 days in jail with 180 days stayed pending completion of his probation. He was also ordered to complete an 18-month multi-offender alcohol program.
Whenever defendants are convicted of DUI they are given what is known was a Watson Advisory, which warns them that if they are caught driving under the influence again and someone is killed they could face an upgraded charge from voluntary manslaughter to second-degree murder. A manslaughter conviction carries a set time in prison as punishment, but a murder defendant can only go free by winning parole.