Escondido

A 19-year-old Escondido man who drove while drunk and killed his passenger in a crash was sentenced Monday to one year in County Jail and ordered to perform 500 hours of community work.

Brian Kenneth Chlopek received a $1,000 fine from San Diego Superior Court Judge Richard Huffman, who ordered him to abstain from alcohol while on probation for the next three years.

Chlopek pleaded guilty Dec. 17 to vehicular manslaughter in the Jan. 13, 1985, death of his best friend, Lawrence (Abe) Blacktooth, 17, of Escondido.

Blacktooth’s sister, Tawyna, 14, died Aug. 19 of injuries she sustained when she stepped in front of a car whose driver had also been drinking.

Larry Blacktooth, the victims’ father, testified of the irony in the sentencing, which took place exactly one year after the death of his son.

“We lost both our children to drunk drivers in 1985,” Blacktooth told Huffman.

“I believe it’s time the courts impose stiffer fines and penalties. We realize no punishment will bring our son back to life,” Blacktooth said.

Roy Spencer, Chlopek’s attorney, asked for probation.

Frank Van Buskirk, 40, of Escondido, the driver who hit Tawyna Blacktooth, was sentenced Nov. 27 to three days in a work release program, fined $675, and placed on three years’ probation. Van Buskirk was charged with drunk driving, a misdemeanor, because he was not found to be at fault in the accident.