6 May 2008, 4:07 pm
Exasperated authorities may finally have found a solution to Ignacio Merendon-Zerega's penchant for getting behind the wheel drunk and paying no heed to anyone who gets in his way. The 44-year-old illegal immigrant will spend the next 15 years in the state prison system, then be deported to his native Mexico. However, it's too late for the Cox family of Newberg. Judyth Ann Cox died in December - leaving her husband of 48 years, 72-year-old Craig, a widower - after Merendon, in a drunken stupor, crashed his Dodge Caravan into their Geo Storm. About 2 1/2 hours after the crash, Merendon's blood alcohol content still measured .347. That's more than four times the .08 establishing the presumption on impairment in Oregon. According to statements in court, the Woodburn resident started his day by mixing 10 shots of tequila with his morning coffee, then switched to beer. Thus fortified, he got behind the wheel and took off, driving with a suspended license. And it was apparently something he had done many times before. Merendon's record shows six previous drunken driving convictions. It shows a hit and run conviction from a DUII crash in which he registered a blood alcohol content of .29 - almost four times the legal limit. It shows repeated license suspensions and revocations, coupled with a previous deportation to Mexico. But nothing seemed to stop him. After the deportation, he returned to the U.S., returned to the bottle and returned to the road, records show. Before Yamhill County Circuit Judge Cal Tichenor sentenced him Monday on one count each of first-degree manslaughter, fourth-degree assault, driving while suspended and felony driving under the influence, Merendon told the court, "I'm sorry." But prosecutor Alicia Eagan said he showed no remorse at all at the crash scene. Eagan said he climbed from his van, leaned against it and lit a cigarette. When informed 66-year-old Judy Cox had succumbed to her injuries, she said, he reportedly responded, "She shouldn't have died. It wasn't that big of a crash." She said several witnesses reported seeing Merendon weaving all over the road shortly before the crash, alternately crossing the center line and fog line. "He was drunk, very, very drunk," she told the court. "One officer said he was visibly, obviously intoxicated." At one point, a fellow motorist rolled down his window and yelled at Merendon, "Get off the road before you kill someone," Eagan said. And minutes later, the unheeding Woodburn resident did just that. If a murder case could ever be made as a result of a DUII crash, Eagan said, this would be the one. http://www.newsregister.com/news/story.cfm?story_no=234530... read more
Share on del.icio.us
Share on digg
Share on Technorati
Share on reddit
Share on Yahoo!
Share on Furl