Colliding drivers both facing DUI charges

Two allegedly intoxicated motorists who collided in a Menlo Park intersection early Saturday morning are both facing charges of driving while intoxicated and one has pleaded not guilty.

Both Yungee Kim and Zaquis Jahrona Coleman were arrested in the Aug. 11 crash but Kim bailed out of custody that same night on a $50,000 bond. Coleman, 22, of East Palo Alto, appeared in court on misdemeanor DUI charges and after entering her plea was scheduled for jury trial Nov. 13. Court Commissioner Stephanie Garratt then released Coleman on his own recognizance with the caveat he abstain from drugs and alcohol.

Kim, 40, of Sunnyvale, will be arraigned Sept. 18. He also faces a charge for leaving the scene of an accident.

Menlo Park police officers arrested both defendants after responding to reports of a hit-and-run crash near the intersection of Bayfront Expressway and Chrysler Drive at about 2:30 a.m. Saturday. Prosecutors say Kim, who has a 2011 conviction for reckless driving, struck Coleman’s vehicle nearly head on as she made a left turn on westbound Chrysler. A witness wasn’t sure who had the green light but said Kind fled the scene on foot without contacting those inside the other car.

Coleman was uninjured but a 24-year-old passenger sustained a compound fracture of her left wrist. Coleman’s alcohol level tested at .18 and .19, leading to her arrest. Roughly two hours later, officers found Kim wandering in the 100 block of Constitution Drive without any shoes and falling down. In his pocket were keys to the car involved in the crash and the vehicle is registered in his name, according to prosecutors.

His blood alcohol level was not released.

Investigation of the crash partially closed the road for approximately seven hours.

Michelle Durand can be reached by email: or by phone: (650) 344-5200 ext. 102.