Stockton drunk driver convicted for fiery crash near Modesto that killed three people
A 43-year-old Stockton man will be sentenced to 30 years in prison for driving drunk in a fiery crash near Modesto that killed three people.
Prosecutors say Tobien Durham ran from the crash site and was apprehended about a month later. Balmore Hernandez, 23, Alexander Jolley, 23, and Monica Jurado, 25, were not able to escape the fiery wreckage and died.
Durham on July 10 pleaded no contest to two felony charges of vehicular manslaughter with gross negligence in the deaths of Hernandez and Jolley, the Stanislaus County District Attorney’s Office announced in a news release this week. The defendant admitted to personally inflicting great bodily injury to both victims and running from the crash site.
The prosecutors said Durham also was convicted of felony driving under the influence of alcohol and causing injury with an enhancement for causing brain injury and paralysis to Jurado. Deputy District Attorney Bianca Yip prosecuted the case.
The crash occurred shortly before midnight July 15, 2016, at Kiernan Avenue and Tully Road, a rural area just north of Modesto.
Hernandez, of Manteca, was driving a 2003 Honda CR-V. Alexander Jolley, of Stockton, was in the Honda’s front passenger seat. Jurado, Hernandez’s cousin visiting from El Salvador, was in the Honda’s back seat.
The Honda was heading east on Kiernan and stopped at the intersection. Hernandez was waiting for the traffic light to turn green.
The California Highway Patrol has said Durham was driving a 2000 Jaguar that crashed at high speed into the back of the Honda. The Jaguar became lodged beneath the rear of the Honda, and both vehicles caught fire.
Durham left behind the Jaguar he borrowed from a friend in Sacramento, according to the CHP. The prosecutors said Durham ran to a nearby gas station, called a relative to pick him up and never reported the crash to authorities.
The CHP said investigators identified Durham as the suspect within 48 hours of the deadly crash and spent the following few weeks serving search warrants and looking for Durham based on information from witnesses and evidence collected. Durham surrendered to authorities Aug. 22, 2016.
Prosecutors initially charged Durham with three counts of murder in connection with the crash. Those charges were dropped in exchange for his no contest plea last week.
Durham on Thursday remained in custody at the Stanislaus County Jail. He is scheduled to return to court Aug. 9, when he will be formally sentenced to 30 years in prison.
The prosecutors said Durham must serve at least 85 percent of his sentence in prison before he can become eligible for parole. He has three convictions considered “strikes” under the state’s “Three Strikes” law, which can be used to increase a prison sentence for any other felony convictions.
This story was originally published July 19, 2018 at 12:57 PM with the headline "Stockton drunk driver convicted for fiery crash near Modesto that killed three people."