San Diego Criminal Attorneys Blog
Julianna Elyse Thomson, 23, a Carlsbad resident was accused of killing Arthur Jacobs, 64, in a hit and run accident on July 27th. Ms. Thomson, whose case is taking place in Vista Superior Court, plead not guilty to charges of vehicle manslaughter, hit and run, and DUI/drunk driving on Tuesday, August 2nd. If found guilty of all these charges Ms. Thomson could face up to 15 years in a state prison.
In court on Tuesday, Ms. Thomson was placed back into jail due to the arraignment judge, Marshall Y. Hockett, increasing her bail. Her bail was originally set at $100,000 and was raised to $200,000 due to pleas made by the prosecution and the relatives of Mr. Jacobs. If Ms. Thomson’s family and supporters can come up with the additional the bail, she will be re-released from jail. The prosecution’s reasons for the bail increase were stated simply as wanting to keep the roads safe from someone who was driving while extremely intoxicated, along with Ms. Thomson fleeing the scene. The decision was finalized by Superior Court Judge Hockett after hearing Mr. Jacobs daughters statement.
The fatality accident happened on July 27th, around 9:45 p.m. on El Camino Real, when Mr. Jacobs was struck by a Ford F-150 driven by Ms. Thomson. Mr. Jacobs was riding his bicycle to work at one of the local hotels when the Ford F-150 veered into the bicycle lane striking Mr. Jacobs, sending him flying through the air into bushes and then a concrete wall. Ms. Thomson did not stop but instead sped away, taking a wide u-turn at the next cross street. However, because of her high speed she was unable to maintain full control of the vehicle, hitting a pole, utility box and some bushes. Despite damaging her own truck, she continued driving to a nearby apartment complex, successfully fleeing the scene. Police found her at this apartment complex where several witnesses stated she was acting very hysterical. Ms. Thomson appeared to be very distraught and shocked, as well as slapping herself when police arrived at the scene.
Ms. Thomson was taken into custody and underwent a blood alcohol level test which resulting in a .25 Blood alcohol concentration (BAC) measuring in at more than three times the legal driving limit of .08% for persons over 21. This high level of intoxication was very surprising to Police as her BAC was measured two hours after the hit and run accident thus allowing her blood alcohol level to burn off and drop to a lower level. At the time of the accident, it is foreseeable that Ms. Thomson could have had a BAC of over .25%.
Ms. Thomson is not the only young women who has been accused this week for being involved a deadly traffic accident. Twenty one year old Jessica Marie Bloom also plead not guilty this week to a midday crash that left Marine Gunnery Sgt. Dave Smith, 34, on life-support. The crash happened in Rancho Bernardo on Sunday, July 31st, around midday. More information regarding this incident can be found here. Ms. Bloom’s BAC was also high!
To those reading this post! Remember, if you drink alcohol then please don’t drive. I’m sure both Ms. Thomson and Ms. Bloom are genuinely good people with families and loved ones who really care about them. Each made a poor decision that will affect many people’s lives. Truly sad, but avoidable.
Sources:
CARLSBAD: Woman pleads not guilty to fatal crash, North County Times