A Santa Ana man is facing multiple DUI-related charges after prosecutors allege he struck and seriously injured a mother, father and three young children while driving with a blood-alcohol content nearly three times the legal limit in Garden Grove.
Ceferino Ascencion Ramos, 29, is also facing a hit-and-run charge related to the Sunday, July 7 collision on Haster Street near Twintree Lane, as well as sentencing enhancements for causing great bodily injury, including a brain injury and paralysis, according to a news release from the Orange County District Attorney’s Office.
Just after 7 p.m., a mother and father were riding e-bikes with their three young children. The mother was pulling their 7-month-old daughter behind her in a bike trailer, while the father was pulling a trailer with their 5-year-old son and 6-year-old daughter, according to the DA’s office.
A witness saw Ramos drive into all five family members and then leave the area, prosecutors said. The witness contacted police as he followed Ramos, prosecutors added.
After his arrest, Ramos allegedly had a blood alcohol content of .22 percent, nearly three times the legal limit of .08.
The father is in a coma, having suffered a fractured skull and brain bleed, prosecutors said, while the 5-year-old son is in a coma without any brain activity.
The 6-year-old daughter — who turned 7 the day after the collision — underwent surgery and is still in critical condition, prosecutors said.
The mother and the 7-month-old suffered minor injuries, prosecutors added.
“Instead of blowing out her birthday candles, a little girl spent her seventh birthday in the hospital fighting for her life the day after being run over along with her entire family by a drunk driver,” Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer said in a statement. “They were just riding their bikes, enjoying a hot summer day, and now that little girl, her brother, and their dad are just hoping to make it to her next birthday. This is a tragedy that should have never happened, but it did because of the selfish decision by a stranger to get behind the wheel drunk.”
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