Driver enters not-guilty plea
A Garden Grove man pleaded not guilty Tuesday to charges of killing a female bicyclist while under the influence of drugs and alcohol.
According to Orange County prosecutors, Alex Trujillo, 43, having taken prescription drugs and with a blood-alcohol level of 0.13%, swerved his pickup truck off a Seal Beach road Oct. 12 and struck Catherine Busse, who was bicycling on the sidewalk with her son.
Busse, 46, of Seal Beach was catapulted from her bike and died at the scene from blunt-force trauma to the head. Her 15-year-old son, Samuel, was taken to a hospital with minor injuries.
Trujillo is charged with gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated, driving under the influence of alcohol and drugs causing bodily injury, and driving with a blood-alcohol level of 0.08% or more causing injury. If convicted, he faces a maximum of 10 years in prison. Bail was set at $150,000.
Trujillo was convicted of driving under the influence in 2002, authorities said. He also attended an alcohol awareness class and a Mothers Against Drunk Driving event where victims of drunk driving expressed the consequences of drunk driving accidents, said Deputy Dist. Atty. Susan Price of the Orange County district attorney’s homicide unit, who is prosecuting the case.
There are about a dozen deaths in Orange County each year involving drunk drivers with a prior history of driving under the influence, Price said.
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susannah.rosenblatt @latimes.com
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