Driver Accused in Woman’s Death Had His License Suspended in ’90

The pickup truck driver accused of crashing into a Woodland Hills house, fatally injuring a visiting grandmother as she slept, lost his driver’s license last fall for having too many speeding tickets, according to the state Department of Motor Vehicles.

Andrew Stapley, 21, of Woodland Hills was cited for speeding four times between November, 1989, and September, 1990, when his license was suspended for two months because he had too many moving violations within a year, DMV records show.

He was also cited for speeding in January, 1989, and for failing to obey a stop signal in August, 1989, according to the DMV.

The DMV and police said the suspension of Stapley’s license was extended on Nov. 25, and remained in effect Monday when he crashed into the home of James and Susan Feller in the 22900 block of Calabash Street. Police said Stapley’s truck killed Susan Feller’s 68-year-old mother, Diana Frush, who was visiting from England.

Frush was asleep when the truck hit her bed, pushing it across the room.

“If he had hit the house two feet over he may have killed my 6-year-old along with my mother-in-law,” James Feller said Tuesday, adding that his family might move. “He could have hit a gas pipe and killed us all. . . . People like that shouldn’t be on the street.”

Stapley, a busboy at Pelican’s Retreat restaurant in Calabasas, was arrested on suspicion of vehicular homicide while under the influence of alcohol, Los Angeles police said. He was released Monday night after posting $20,000 bail, and is scheduled for arraignment May 31 in Van Nuys Municipal Court, Police Detective Bob Ockey said Tuesday.

Stapley could not be reached for comment Tuesday.

Although Stapley has no history of drunk-driving arrests according to DMV records, police said they suspected he was under the influence of alcohol Monday because he told them he had been drinking with friends after work, apparently after a Cinco de Mayo celebration at the restaurant. He also needed help getting into the police car after the accident, said one officer, who described Stapley as “toasted.”

Ockey said Stapley’s blood-alcohol level was not available Tuesday.

Meanwhile, Ockey said, traffic investigators are searching for a woman jogger who may have been the only witness to the fatal accident. Ockey said the woman’s account may prove crucial because police so far have located only two witnesses to the immediate aftermath of the accident.

“We need a witness to the driving,” Ockey said. “We have to prove he was driving in a manner grossly negligent.”

Feller, Frush’s son-in-law, said later that he and his brother Michael located the jogger about 6 p.m. after canvassing the neighborhood for several hours and gave police her identity. Feller also said the family was seeking two young men, believed to be in their early 20s, who told James Feller that they had seen Stapley driving erratically.

A funeral for Frush has been planned for noon Friday at Eden Memorial Park, 11500 Sepulveda Blvd., Mission Hills.