Hit-Run Suspect May Face Harsher Term if Convicted : Courts: Blood-alcohol level of man accused in fatality is said to have been nearly four times legal limit.

An Orange man suspected in the hit-and-run death of a pregnant woman Aug. 5 had a blood-alcohol level of 0.30 an hour after the incident, nearly four times the legal limit, according to court documents.

Deputy Dist. Atty. Bruce Patterson said that if lab tests verify the alcohol level taken in the field after the incident, Isikeli (Kelly) Fukofuka could face a harsher sentence if convicted. Any blood-alcohol level over 0.20 carries the possibility of a longer sentence, Patterson said.

Fukofuka, 34, a tree trimmer and native of Tonga, located in the South Pacific, has denied being drunk at about 8:15 p.m. Aug. 5 when Carmen Cisneros, 31, the mother of five, was struck and killed in the 500 block of East 1st Street.

In a recent interview from the Orange County Jail, Fukofuka insisted that the victim stepped in front of his pickup truck while crossing the street with a shopping cart and he left the scene only because two men were waving guns at him.

But on Monday, prosecutors filed a felony vehicular manslaughter charge and four additional felony counts against Fukofuka. He was scheduled to be arraigned Monday in Orange County Municipal Court in Santa Ana, but the hearing was postponed until today when an interpreter will be available to assist him.

The charges against Fukofuka include one felony count of driving under the combined influence of a drug and alcohol, driving with a blood-alcohol content above the legal limit of 0.08, hit-and-run driving and assault with a deadly weapon for allegedly driving his car at Fernando Tapia, one of the two men who gave chase after the woman was hit.

Patterson said Tapia was one of two security guards from a local market who had been driving by and saw the incident. Along with police, they chased Fukofuka for nearly 3 1/2 miles before he was stopped, Patterson said.

Fukofuka said he stopped as soon as he saw that police were involved in the pursuit.