THE SIDELINES : CHP Wants Former Ram France to Face Manslaughter Charge
The California Highway Patrol said today it would seek a vehicular manslaughter charge against former Los Angeles Rams offensive lineman Doug France, who was involved in a weekend accident that killed another motorist.
CHP Officer Patrick Barnard said investigators believe that France was drunk when his 1987 BMW rammed head-on into a vehicle driven by Maria Conception Contreras, 53, in south Orange County. Contreras, of Laguna Hills, died at the scene.
The accident occurred about 4:35 p.m. Saturday, shortly after France, 37, left his Laguna Hills home and headed north along winding Aliso Hills Drive. Traveling at speeds estimated at 80 m.p.h., France lost control of his car on a curve near La Cienega Street and hit Contreras’ Mazda 323, Barnard said.
CHP officers arrested France at the scene of the crash; he was taken to Mission Hospital Regional Medical Center in Mission Viejo. A hospital spokeswoman said today that France was in serious condition and in intensive care with a concussion and a fractured pelvis.
France, a former star at Ohio State, played for the Rams from 1975 to ’81. He made the All-Pro squad in 1978 and 1980.
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