Cypress woman killed in Santa Ana crash involving Tustin police pursuit
Michelle Lynn Boston, 46, of Cypress died after a vehicle pursued by Tustin police collided with the car she was in near 4th Street and Golden Circle Drive.
By Xiaoyu Wang ·
A 46-year-old Cypress woman has died following a violent collision in Santa Ana involving a vehicle that was being pursued by the Tustin Police Department, according to the Santa Ana Police Department.
Police identified the victim as Michelle Lynn Boston of Cypress. Investigators said the crash occurred at approximately 9:55 p.m. on Nov. 2 near the intersection of 4th Street and Golden Circle Drive, after the pursuit crossed into Santa Ana.
According to Santa Ana police, Tustin officers were pursuing a vehicle driven by Andrew Raul Gonzalez, 21, of Downey, when Gonzalez allegedly entered the intersection and collided with a westbound vehicle carrying three people. Boston was transported to a local hospital, where she later died from her injuries. The two other adults in the vehicle were also taken for treatment.
Gonzalez was arrested at the scene and booked into the Santa Ana Jail. Investigators said impairment is suspected as a contributing factor in the collision.
As of Tuesday evening, the Orange County District Attorney's Office had not publicly announced a criminal complaint, and formal charges had not been filed. Gonzalez remains presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty in court.
Police noted that potential charges in a case of this kind could range from driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs and DUI causing injury to gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated, which carries a state prison sentence of 4, 6, or 10 years under California law, with steeper penalties for defendants with certain prior DUI convictions. In especially egregious DUI fatality cases, Orange County prosecutors have occasionally pursued second-degree murder charges, commonly known as Watson Murder counts, when evidence suggests a driver acted with conscious disregard for human life. Such convictions can carry 15 years to life in prison.
Beyond potential criminal penalties, a DUI-related conviction in a fatal crash typically brings severe financial consequences in California, including policy cancellation or non-renewal, mandatory SR-22 high-risk insurance filings, steep premium increases and possible civil wrongful-death litigation brought by surviving family members seeking compensation for medical expenses, funeral costs and loss of support.
The crash underscores a continuing public safety problem across Orange County. State and county data indicate the county sees more than 9,000 DUI arrests annually, and roughly 30 percent of fatal traffic collisions involve an impaired driver. Alcohol-impaired driving remains one of the leading causes of traffic-related deaths throughout Southern California.
The Santa Ana Police Department's Collision Investigation Unit is continuing to reconstruct the collision and determine the precise role impairment may have played. Anyone with information is encouraged to contact SAPD Detective K. Briley at (714) 245-8215 or the department's Traffic Division at (714) 245-8200.
Source: New Santa Ana
