Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs

Debbie Sumi Faces DUI Manslaughter Charges in Vista

Debbie Sumi survived ejection from her vehicle at highway speeds only to face manslaughter charges.
Debbie Sumi survived ejection from her vehicle at highway speeds only to face manslaughter charges.

A woman 4 feet 9 inches tall and weighing 104 pounds was said to be driving with a lethal blood alcohol content when she crashed a car into people on the side of the road last summer, according to testimony given at the Vista Courthouse on February 23.

Witnesses said a white Jeep struck a car that had stopped at the side of of Highway 78 in Vista after midnight on August 13 of 2010. A woman driving a black Nissan had pulled over because she felt sick, and passengers in her car got out and joined her. Two persons from the Nissan were struck and killed (Susana Orozco and Erica Oliva, both 23), according to evidence at the preliminary hearing.

Sponsored
Sponsored

Debbie Sumi was thrown from the white Jeep as it rolled down the highway, and the other person in that car, Larry Alvarez, 34, was trapped under the Jeep and crushed to death, according to CHP officer Brent Twedt. Sumi was found dazed in the middle of the highway.

Private defense attorney Victor Orsatti has suggested that Alvarez might have been the Jeep driver. But investigators testified that the driver’s seat was adjusted for Sumi, not Alvarez, who was said to be 5 feet 11 inches tall.

Hospital records show Sumi had a blood alcohol content of .348, “acute alcohol intoxication" — a lethal level of alcohol, according to prosecutor Jodi Breton.

Superior court judge J. Michael Kirkman ordered Sumi to face three felony DUI manslaughter charges and set March 23 for her next court appearance.

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Coyote tracks in frail San Diego avocado grove

Second place winner in Reader neighborhood writing contest
Next Article

A poem for March by Joseph O’Brien

“March’s Lovely Asymptotes”
Debbie Sumi survived ejection from her vehicle at highway speeds only to face manslaughter charges.
Debbie Sumi survived ejection from her vehicle at highway speeds only to face manslaughter charges.

A woman 4 feet 9 inches tall and weighing 104 pounds was said to be driving with a lethal blood alcohol content when she crashed a car into people on the side of the road last summer, according to testimony given at the Vista Courthouse on February 23.

Witnesses said a white Jeep struck a car that had stopped at the side of of Highway 78 in Vista after midnight on August 13 of 2010. A woman driving a black Nissan had pulled over because she felt sick, and passengers in her car got out and joined her. Two persons from the Nissan were struck and killed (Susana Orozco and Erica Oliva, both 23), according to evidence at the preliminary hearing.

Sponsored
Sponsored

Debbie Sumi was thrown from the white Jeep as it rolled down the highway, and the other person in that car, Larry Alvarez, 34, was trapped under the Jeep and crushed to death, according to CHP officer Brent Twedt. Sumi was found dazed in the middle of the highway.

Private defense attorney Victor Orsatti has suggested that Alvarez might have been the Jeep driver. But investigators testified that the driver’s seat was adjusted for Sumi, not Alvarez, who was said to be 5 feet 11 inches tall.

Hospital records show Sumi had a blood alcohol content of .348, “acute alcohol intoxication" — a lethal level of alcohol, according to prosecutor Jodi Breton.

Superior court judge J. Michael Kirkman ordered Sumi to face three felony DUI manslaughter charges and set March 23 for her next court appearance.

Comments
Sponsored
Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

India Hawthorne is common in coastal gardens, Citrus trees are in full bloom

The vernal equinox is on March 19
Next Article

Coyote tracks in frail San Diego avocado grove

Second place winner in Reader neighborhood writing contest
Comments
Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed Big Screen — Movie commentary Blurt — Music's inside track Booze News — San Diego spirits Classical Music — Immortal beauty Classifieds — Free and easy Cover Stories — Front-page features Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts Feast! — Food & drink reviews Feature Stories — Local news & stories Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore From the Archives — Spotlight on the past Golden Dreams — Talk of the town The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it Letters — Our inbox Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news News Ticker — News & politics Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated Poetry — The old and the new Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers Reading — The hunt for intellectuals Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds SD on the QT — Almost factual news Sheep and Goats — Places of worship Special Issues — The best of Street Style — San Diego streets have style Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves Theater — On stage in San Diego this week Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads Your Week — Daily event picks
4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
Close

Anchor ads are not supported on this page.