San Diego

A truck driver who killed two small boys in a collision while he was drunk on Interstate 15 was sentenced Friday to eight years in state prison. The sentence for Ronald Atkinson, 41, of Garden Grove, came after the parents of the dead boys made emotional pleas that Atkinson be given the maximum term. San Diego Superior Court Judge Donald Smith imposed the maximum sentence on Atkinson, who pleaded no contest Nov. 28 to two counts of vehicular manslaughter with gross negligence. Killed in the wreck near Bernardo Center Drive on June 21 were Timothy Kruse, who was celebrating his second birthday that day, and his brother, Vincent, who was 9. Their mother, Debra Kruse, 31, formerly of Linda Vista but now of Barstow, was driving her car north when Atkinson’s southbound truck, carrying a trailer rig loaded with lumber, crossed the center divider and demolished the Kruse car. Debra Kruse was in a coma for four days. She suffered a broken leg and head injuries and lost partial use of her right hand. In sentencing, the judge noted that Atkinson had a previous misdemeanor drunk-driving conviction.