CA DMV issues licenses to those with horrible records. Then they go on to kill
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- California DMV reissued licenses to nearly 150 drivers after fatal crashes.
- Almost 40% of convicted vehicular manslaughter drivers had valid licenses during crashes.
- Many repeat offenders continued to drive recklessly after license reinstatement.
This story is based on reporting from CalMatters’ License to Kill project. Sign up for its newsletter to follow along as they investigate how California lets dangerous drivers stay on the road.
For nearly a decade, the number of traffic deaths in the state’s capital has been close to the number of homicides. And statewide, traffic fatalities in the first quarter of 2024 were on pace to surpass gun deaths, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
State and local government have invested money to respond to the uptick in roadway deaths. Some of the funding has gone toward law enforcement, while some of it has gone toward pilot programs that combine community feedback, collision safety data and expert opinions.
While experts attribute roadway deaths to several causes — infrastructure design, poor understanding of road laws and driving while intoxicated — another aspect is a system that allows drivers with checkered driving histories to get behind the wheel again. In some cases, they go on to kill.
In January 2010, Cesar Castillo was ticketed for driving while on a suspended license. It was suspended in 2008 and 2009 for his failure to appear in court for a previous traffic violation. In 2012, he was arrested for driving with a suspended license and while under the influence. In August 2020, he was ticketed for an improper turn across double or solid lines.
About a month later, he struck and killed a wheelchair-bound man at a crosswalk in Modesto. Castillo had a valid license at the time of the collision.
On Sept. 30, 2020, at about 6:30 p.m., Castillo was driving west on Yosemite Boulevard. As he approached a crosswalk, he noticed that cars traveling in the opposite direction were stopped, according to his testimony given at the scene. He then heard honking and looked around to see where it was coming from. But he never stopped.
Castillo told officers the man in the wheelchair, Tom Lynd, was trying his best to get out of the street but instead moved himself directly into the path of Castillo’s white Chevrolet work truck.
Lynd died later at a local hospital. He was identified by staff of the nearby Modesto Gospel Mission.
Castillo was convicted of vehicular manslaughter, sentenced to 90 days in jail and one year probation.
In March 2022, he was issued a driver’s license, which is still valid today, according to his California Department of Motor Vehicles record. There was no indication that his license was ever suspended or revoked.
The data show that Castillo is one of nearly 150 people in California who were issued licenses by the DMV after causing a death. While some of those licenses were revoked or suspended after convictions, the majority of the drivers, like Castillo, still hold driver’s licenses.
Also like Castillo, nearly 40% of drivers convicted of vehicular manslaughter in California since 2019 were licensed at the time of their fatal collisions, according to CalMatters.
Many drivers continued to drive poorly after their deadly collisions — almost 400 got a ticket, were involved in a crash or both. Castillo got a speeding ticket about a year after he was reissued his license in 2022.
But Castillo isn’t the only example of someone with a terrible driving record who went on to kill in Stanislaus County.
‘You’re going to kill somebody’
Court records show that before Akshdeep Singh killed another driver, he had been ticketed for speeding three years in a row: 2017, 2018 and 2019. In the latter year, he also was ticketed for running a red light.
Stanislaus County Deputy District Attorney Ney Montenegro said Singh was pulled over in 2021 for speeding and swerving in and out of traffic. According to Montenegro, Singh was given a warning by a Stanislaus County Sheriff’s Office deputy.
“The deputy stopped him, warned him and said, ‘Hey, you can’t do that. You’re going to kill somebody,’” said Montenegro. A few months later, that’s exactly what happened.
In September 2021, Singh was driving more than 100 mph while intoxicated when he slammed into 65-year-old Jose Franklin’s vehicle on Pelandale Avenue. Data provided by CalMatters indicates he had a license at the time.
He was charged with second-degree murder but his license was renewed shortly before he was convicted. It was revoked after his conviction, according to CalMatters.
Lamar Garth was driving north on Gates Road, west of Modesto, in June 2021 when his car drifted to the right “for unknown reasons,” according to previous reporting by The Bee. His car hit the guardrail and went into the path of a vehicle driven by a 46-year-old woman, who wasn’t wearing her seat belt.
Taken to Doctors Medical Center, she died of her injuries. The California Highway Patrol noted that it did not believe drugs or alcohol factored in the collision
There are no court records indicating Garth ever was arrested for his role in this collision. However, he held a license at the time despite his driving record.
Garth had been ticketed for speeding twice in 2007, once in 2008 and twice again in 2012. He was arrested and convicted for driving under the influence twice in 2015 — just eight days apart.
He was issued a new driver’s license in August 2023, which is still valid.
“People won’t learn.”
Many drivers with checkered records never have their license suspended, or they get it back a few years after a violation. The DMV suspends licenses when drivers accumulate either four points in one year, six points in two years or eight points in three years. Speeding is one point and a hit-and-run or DUI is two points.
The DMV is required by law to suspend a driver’s license for a number of different convictions. For DUIs, the DMV will suspend a license anywhere from six to 10 months.
CalMatters found the DMV gives drivers their licenses back as soon as any legal required time limit is complete. Tickets, crashes and suspension fall off a driver’s record after a few years — essentially wiping it clean.
In some cases, the DMV suspended a driver’s license shortly after a fatal crash. However, numerous cases show the DMV waited for a conviction before doing anything — sometimes for months or even years.
For example, the DMV will remove action taken against a driving privilege for a DUI conviction after three years. This typically happens after a convicted driver takes a court-ordered DUI class.
Montenegro said it’s his opinion, not an official position of the DA’s Office, that traffic tickets and speeding tickets should be similar to DUIs. Someone convicted of a DUI has to attend in-person classes and sometimes counseling. But with traffic tickets, all that’s required typically is an online class.
“Anybody can go and take those classes online. You just, you know, play the video and let it play, and then take a test at the end,” said Montenegro. “So it’s not really very much involved.”
But Montenegro said he believes there are issues with DUI consequences as well. As far as the court-ordered classes, he said sometimes they work, sometimes they don’t. Some people get one or two DUIs and he never sees them again. Others are return visitors.
Montenegro recalled prosecuting a man who had six DUIs and was recorded on a jail telephone saying he was going to continue to drink and possibly drive once his classes were completed.
“There’s some people that, you know, get it. There’s others that don’t. Until you get charged with killing someone ... (some) people won’t learn,” said Montenegro.
License to kill
Ervin Wyatt had a two-page driving history in a court filing that included fleeing police twice, running a red light, causing a traffic collision, driving without a license four times and racking up 12 speeding tickets.
After the DMV issued him a license in 2019, he subsequently got three more speeding tickets.
At about 7:30 a.m. Sept. 28, 2023, Wyatt was speeding east on Highway 132 when he veered onto the right shoulder. He then overcorrected and went into oncoming traffic — slamming head-on into another car, according to a CHP investigation.
The collision killed two sisters: 67-year-old Marianne Clemons of Patterson and 64-year-old Pamela Cross of Modesto. Wyatt’s passenger, 44-year-old Rosa Clavel of Modesto, was also killed.
Wyatt faces three counts of murder, three counts of vehicular manslaughter and DUI charges, according to coverage by The Bee two years ago. At the time, his attorney denied that Wyatt was under the influence at the time of the collision. Wyatt’s legal representation was also trying to get the murder charges dropped so he would face only the vehicular manslaughter charges. His case is currently in the pretrial phase.
Chuck Galindo had a horrendous driving record dating back to the late 1990s, court records show.
In 1997, he was arrested on suspicion of DUI and driving while on a suspended or revoked license. This case was dismissed. In 1999, he was ticketed for driving while on a suspended or revoked license and without registration.
Galindo was ticketed again in 2000 for driving without registration and driving on a suspended license. He failed to appear to court two months later. According to court documents, the DMV was alerted. However, the case was dismissed from court and cleared from DMV reporting in 2017.
In 2000, Galindo was ticketed once again for driving while on a suspended or revoked license and speeding. He was ticketed in 2002 for driving on a suspended license and without insurance and in 2018 for again driving without a license.
In 2021, Galindo was in a hit-and-run crash that killed Lorraine Samaro Gaarnica in Stanislaus County. There are few details available regarding this case because it’s under seal. There are a number of reasons why his court records could be sealed — it’s possible he served his sentence, paid restitution and did a number of other things to have the conviction expunged.
He was issued a driver’s license by the DMV on Aug. 29, 2022, even though he was involved in an accident just seven days prior. Two months after getting his license issued, he was ticketed for speeding. In April 2023, he was involved in another accident.
The DMV finally suspended his license in September 2023 and permanently revoked it in 2024 following his conviction for the 2021 hit-and-run.
