Although the suspect in this month’s fatal crash on Union Road would be considered guilty of driving under the influence with a 0.01 percent blood-alcohol concentration, the California Highway Patrol is alleging her BAC was also above the legal limit for adults. Local court records also show that the victim in the Jan. 13 accident had a 2008 conviction for drunken driving while under age 21 and was placed on probation for three years.
Breanna Stewart, 19, of Hollister, is accused of DUI and gross vehicular manslaughter after the accident last week. She had not been officially charged as of press time, while District Attorney Candice Hooper said she had not received a police report from the CHP.
Stewart’s toxicology results were not available yet, but CHP Officer Jaime Rios, an agency spokesman, said investigators believe the driver’s blood-alcohol concentration was above 0.08 percent.
“I can tell you we do believe that her BAC was above point-O-eight,” Rios said, adding that blood results would reveal definitively whether alcohol or drugs played a role. “It’s based on the field-sobriety tests that were given.”
Rios stressed that there is no legal limit for anyone under age 21.
Ryan McFall, a 2006 graduate of San Benito High School, died in the single-car accident on Union Road. Court records in San Benito County – there is no public database giving access to records in all California counties, and a CHP spokesman said the agency does not pursue access to victims’ records – indicated that McFall pleaded guilty in December 2008 to a drunken driving charge related to an arrest on Nov. 22 of that year.
McFall was age 19 at the time of the arrest, the same age as Stewart, when authorities alleged he was driving while under the influence of alcohol and a drug – which was unspecified in the court records – along with charges of drunken driving and two counts of failing to comply with a court order.
Those records did allege his blood-alcohol level was above the adult limit for adults, 0.08 percent.
McFall pleaded guilty to the drunken driving charge but had the others dismissed. He had his license revoked for one year and was placed on probation for three years, along with having to serve a five-day sentence in the county jail.
Death blamed on alcohol
McFall recently had moved to the Sacramento area to study electrical engineering at American River College, but was in the area for a visit when the accident occurred.
The fatal accident was around 3 a.m. Jan. 13. The car, a 2009 Hyundai Sonata – registered to the driver’s mother Patricia Stewart – was westbound on Union Road when Stewart lost control and crashed into a light pole at the intersection of San Benito Street, according to the CHP. The car was severely damaged on the front right side and all along the right side.
McFall, 23, died at the scene before responders arrived. Responders initially transported Stewart to Hazel Hawkins Memorial Hospital for treatment. She was booked into the San Benito County Jail at 6:40 a.m. that morning and released shortly before 8 a.m. after posting bail set at $100,000.
At the scene, Stewart told investigators she and McFall were coming from Tres Pinos and on their way “home,” Rios said.
McFall was born in Rutherglen, Scotland, on July 3, 1988. His family moved to Cupertino in April 1994 and came to Tres Pinos in July 1996. He attended Tres Pinos Elementary school from 1996 to 2002 and was a 2006 graduate of San Benito High School, where he was an all-Tri County Athletic League pitcher for the Balers. He recently moved to Sacramento and had been studying electrical engineering at American River College.
McFall is survived by parents Shaun and Sarah, and younger brothers Gareth and Scott.
