California Prosecutors Charge Driver of car That Killed Angels Pitcher with Three Counts of Murder, DUI

By Alicia Cruz

Senior writer

theblackurbantimes
Angels rookie pitcher Nick Adenhart was among three people killed early Thursday morning when a vehicle driven by Andrew Thomas Gallo ran a red light at a Fullerton, California intersection, causing a three-vehicle crash that killed the rookie pitcher and other motorists.

Photo courtesy of: Getty Images and www.examiner.com

Today prosecutors filed three murder counts against Gallo charging him with driving under the influence causing injury, fleeing the scene of a traffic accident causing death or injury and
driving with a blood-alcohol level over .08 percent causing injury with a sentencing enhancement. The Orange County District Attorney Tony Rackauckas said Gallo could receive almost 55 years to life in prison if convicted of all charges. "At the time of the crash, Mr. Gallo's blood-alcohol content is estimated to be almost three times the legal limit," he said. According to Police, Gallo was driving the minivan that broadsided a car carrying Adenhart and three friends early Thursday. Adenhart died at a hospital, just hours after pitching six scoreless innings in his season debut against the Oakland A's. He was to be remembered before the start of Friday night's Angels game against the Boston Red Sox. "This Angel and his two friends were too young to be sent to heaven but the defendant selfishly and wrecklessly (got) behind the wheel after getting drunk. They didn't have a choice. Bad decision, blink of an eye, five lives ended, including the defendant's life is wrecked," Rackauckas told a news conference.
At press time it was not known if Gallo had hired an attorney, but it is likely he will be assigned a public defender at his first court appearance, scheduled for Monday.
Fullerton police Lt. Kevin Hamilton said in an interview that homicide detectives interviewed Gallo for just under four hours Thursday and learned what he had been doing before the accident. Hamilton would not disclose what detectives learned because of the ongoing investigation, but said "there was a lot to talk about." The Angels announced that at the request of the pitcher's family, they decided to postpone Thursday night's 7:25 PM game with the Oakland Athletics. Hours before the crash, Adenhart, 22, pitched six shutout innings with five strikeouts in a 6-4 loss to the Oakland A's. The wreck occurred at East Orangethorpe Avenue and South Lemon Street just after midnight per police reports. Two of the vehicles — one traveling on Lemon, the other on Orangethorpe — crashed at the intersection. Witnesses reported that the driver of the red minivan (Gallo) ran a red light, and crashed into the vehicle Adenhart was in, a gray Mitsubishi, which slammed into a light pole, police said. Adenhart was taken to UCI Medical Center in Orange and died Thursday morning in surgery, said John Murray, spokesman for UCI.
Two of the occupants in the Mitsubishi were declared dead at the scene. The driver was identified as Courtney Stewart, 20, a former cheerleader at Cal State Fullerton. The identity of the other victim was not immediately released. Unconfirmed media reports identified the man as Henry Pearson, a law student. A memorial for Stewart was planned at the Cal State Fullerton gymnasium. A fourth passenger is at UCI Medical Center in critical condition. He has been identified as Jon Wilhite, 24, a catcher and first-baseman for the past five seasons on Cal State Fullerton's Titans baseball team.