An unlicensed driver with multiple DUI convictions accused of leading police on a brief pursuit after they say he struck and killed a pedestrian in Orange pulled out a can of malt liquor and flipped off officers before being taken into custody, a prosecutor told a court commissioner on Thursday.
Jonathan Lopez, 31, is facing a half-dozen criminal charges, including felony counts of murder, hit-and-run, evading a police officer and driving under the influence, according to a criminal complaint filed Thursday afternoon in Orange County Superior Court.
Authorities have not released the name of the pedestrian Lopez is alleged to have killed during a suspected alcohol-fueled traffic collision in the 300 block of Tustin Street shortly before 11:30 a.m. on Tuesday, March 12, 2024.
According to police, Lopez was driving a Toyota sedan northbound on Tustin Street near Palm Avenue when he struck a person who was crossing the roadway outside of a protected crosswalk. Lopez drove off, police alleged, but they said his car was spotted by an officer about 10 minutes later.
During a hearing in a Santa Ana courtroom late Thursday, Senior Deputy District Attorney Brian Orue told Orange County Superior Court Commissioner Edward W. Hall that Lopez, after leaving a man to die in the roadway, ran a red light and blew through multiple stop signs, at times driving around 65 mph in 45 mph zones as officers chased him for a little more than a mile around the city of Orange.
At the end of the pursuit, the prosecutor said, Lopez appeared unsteady as he exited the vehicle, then pulled out a can of Mickey’s malt liquor and gave the officers the middle finger.
Lopez had a blood alcohol level of .234 percent, the prosecutor added, nearly three times the legal limit for driving.
Orue told the commissioner that due to “extreme public safety concerns,” Lopez needed to be held without bail.
The prosecutor said that Lopez has five previous DUI convictions in California. According to court records, that includes convictions in 2011, 2012, 2015 and 2021. Orue did not specify where in California the fifth one was. He also told the commissioner that he believes Lopez may have one or two other DUI convictions from Wisconsin.
Hall agreed that Lopez should remain in county lockup without bail.
“This is a tragedy for everybody, a tragedy for society,” the commissioner said.
Lopez, who appeared via video from county jail, did not speak during the brief hearing and did not enter a plea. His next court hearing is scheduled for March 29.
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