Riverside Man Pleads Guilty to Vehicular Manslaughter while DUI
Jacob Nathaniel Felix, a 19-year-old, pleaded guilty at a Superior Court in Riverside on Wednesday to driving under the influence and taking responsibility for his friend’s death in a rollover Riverside car crash that resulted from his alleged intoxicated driving.
Jonathan Cuevas, 20-years-old, was the sole passenger in Felix’s small SUV on June 9th, 2011. They were heading back at a high rate of speed from a party in Ontario when Felix was 18-years-old. Then the vehicle approached a rounded curve on Arlington Avenue west of Fairhaven Drive, when Felix lost control of the SUV – Riverside police Detective Ken Madsen told PE on 12 June.
According to witnesses, they agreed with the story of the 1995 Isuzu Rodeo heading eastbound on Arlington. And when the SUV entered a stretch of road that was meant to be taken cautiously the vehicle rolled several times and crashed. Cuevas was allegedly not wearing a seatbelt at the time of the crash. His body was ejected and was declared dead on the scene at about 2:05 a.m.
Felix was transported to the jail ward at Riverside County Regional Medical Center in Moreno Valley after his single-vehicle crash. Right when he was released from the hospital he was booked at Robert Presley Detention Center in Riverside. He was arrested on charges of gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated and driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs with an injury. His bail was set at $75,000.
At the Superior Court in Riverside Felix pled guilty to DUI with bodily injury and DUI with injury, as well as enhancements that included refusing to take a sobriety test. Online records show that he will be scheduled to be sentenced Oct. 4.
Public police records, however, did not specify additional details in regarding the crash and where the minors were served alcohol or where they were able to obtain it. Friends of the pair said that they attended Norte Vista High School in Riverside.
Local groups renewed their call to improve the city’s road conditions. Local residents were fed up with the amount of accidents that resulted because of the twisting of the two-lane roads for drivers who are particularly going westbound.
As a response, the city decided to install bright-yellow arrow signs that are intended to warn motorists of the curves.
Have you, or someone you know, been injured in Riverside auto accident because of an intoxicated driver? You may be eligible for some serious compensation, contact The Consumers’ Law Group for a free consultation to find out more.
Reviewed by Chris H. in 2012.