Healdsburg Man Sentenced to 8 Years and 4 Months in State Prison for Fatal Drunk Driving Collision

Defendant Ulises Castrejon Valdez, 28 years old of Healdsburg, was sentenced today by the Honorable Mark Urioste to serve eight years and four months in state prison after pleading “no contest” in March of this year to charges of gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated, and driving impaired causing great bodily injury. The charges resulted from the defendant’s actions from May of last year which caused an accident on High School Road near Gaye Road and resulted in the death of one bicyclist, and the loss of a minor child’s leg, among other serious injuries. 

A CHP Officer responded to the collision and observed the defendant’s RAM Rebel 1500 pickup truck on its wheels facing southwest near a large oak tree and a broken utility pole. There was significant damage to the driver’s side of the defendant’s vehicle caused by the defendant striking the bodies and bicycles of John Doe, age 12, and Mark Graham Osborne.  The defendant was being extracted from the vehicle and was overheard telling paramedics, “I’m drunk.” The defendant submitted to a breath test with a result of .18/.18 nearly three hours after the reported time of the collision. An analysis by the California Highway Patrol later determined the defendant to be driving on the curved road at approximately 88.2 miles per hour, nearly twice the posted speed limit and more than two and a half times the advisory speed limit for conditions. 

Witnesses to the crash informed officers that the defendant and another driver, Andres Robledo, were engaging in extremely dangerous driving leading up to the accident.

John Doe, a 12-year-old boy, was forced to have his left leg amputated as a result of the crash. His pelvis was fractured, as was his right arm. He suffered a concussion, back pain, neck pain, right leg pain, as well as cuts and abrasions. The second victim in the case, Mark Osborne, was fatally injured in the crash. More than a year after the incident, John Doe has been fitted with a prosthetic leg and indicated to probation that he still feels like he’s in a dream. John Doe was riding his bicycle no more than a quarter mile from his home.

The case was prosecuted by Deputy District Attorney Jason Rifkind of the District Attorney’s Vertical DUI Unit. Funding for this program was provided by a grant from the California Office of Traffic Safety, through the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Deputy District Attorney Rifkind was assisted by District Attorney Investigator Mike Phennicie. The California Highway Patrol headed the investigation.

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