A Moss Beach man was sentenced to five years supervised probation and one year in county jail Tuesday after he pleaded no contest to felony drunk driving for an April collision on State Route 92 that left a woman severely injured, according to the San Mateo County District Attorney’s Office.
Joseph Surick, 33, will receive 261 days credit for time served and will be ordered to pay the victim restitution in an amount yet to be determined, according to prosecutors.
On April 2 at around 4 p.m., Surick is said to have driven into oncoming traffic on State Route 92 in Half Moon Bay and collided with a car driven by a 32-year-old Half Moon Bay woman. He then veered out of control and almost hit a man hanging a sign on the side of the road, according to prosecutors.
The female driver was extracted from her vehicle and transported to Stanford Hospital with major injuries, and Surick was found unresponsive in the bushes and transported to the same hospital with a fractured vertebra, according to prosecutors.
California Highway Patrol officers who contacted Surick at the hospital observed he showed symptoms of being under the influence of alcohol, according to prosecutors.
District Attorney Steve Wagstaffe said even though strict laws were put in place decades ago to prevent drunk driving, prosecutors still encounter people like Surick who drink to excess and harm other people.
“There continues to be innocent victims caused by people driving while drunk,” he said. “It continues to be deplorable.”
Surick’s attorney Edward Pomeroy could not be immediately reached for comment.
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LPSanMateoPark said:
Dirk van Ulden said:
CA Is Burning said:
Dirk, both the DOJ and the Florida AG are investigating the issue.
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