A Las Vegas man appeared in court today for his arraignment on felony DUI charges stemming from a fatal accident that happened earlier this month.
About the Arraignment
According to NBC News 3, 24-year-old Jonathan Donner, of Las Vegas, Nevada, came before a judge on Monday morning to formally hear his felony DUI charges.
He is facing two counts of DUI resulting in death and three counts of DUI resulting in substantial bodily harm.
The charges are the result of a crash he allegedly caused earlier this month, on the 5th. Police say Donner was driving his BMW towards the intersection of Charleston Boulevard and Main Street in Las Vegas when he ran a red light and slammed into a tour bus, killing two people on the bus and hospitalizing three more.
The victims, Jose Cosenza, 53, and Rolf Kloeppel, 34, both passed away on the bus after a fire had ignited as a result of the crash. The injured, Stefanie Kloeppel, 30, and Brian and Sara Zerbee, 39 and 34 respectively, were able to escape the blazing bus and were taken to University Medical Center of Southern Nevada (UMC).
Cosenza was the driver of the bus and had driven buses for the majority of his life.
Before the crash, police say they received a call from Donner’s girlfriend, Tammy Austin. She claims he came to her apartment on the day of the crash clearly intoxicated.
After taking the keys of his car away from him he became physical, taking the keys back. Austin also stated on the phone call that Donner was heading westbound on Charleston Boulevard (where the fatal crash occurred).
Drunk Driving Statistics
The following information was provided by Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD):
- 10,076 people were killed in drunk driving accidents in 2013 – this averages to one death every 52 minutes.
- More than 30 percent of all motorists arrested for drunk driving are repeat offenders.
- More than 1.2 million drivers were arrested for driving under the influence of alcohol or narcotics in 2011 alone.
