A chef whose drunk driving after celebrating a promotion at his Mission Bay job left a homeless man dead was sentenced July 9 to one year in a work furlough center, where he will be allowed to work days but be locked up at night and on weekends.
Alexander Fatoohi, 24, was placed on five years probation and ordered to report to the work furlough center by July 29. San Diego Superior Court Judge Michael Smyth fined Fatoohi $1,346 and ordered him to pay for probation supervision costs in the amount of $1,127.
Fatoohi pleaded guilty May 6 to gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated in the Nov. 3 death of Ronald Wall, 71. Wall was sleeping in a landscaped area next to a freeway onramp and was crushed when Fatoohi’s car missed the onramp driving home around midnight and landed on him. The discovery of the body underneath the car was a shock to both the investigators and to the defendant.
Fatoohi’s attorney, Russell Robinson, said the onramp to Interstate 8 was difficult to negotiate because drivers must make a hard right turn to enter the freeway and was engineered too tightly.
Fatoohi crashed his car on the onramp from Ingraham Street in Pacific Beach near Sports Arena Drive.
Eighteen people, including Fatoohi’s parents, stood up in the courtroom when Robinson asked for his supporters to stand. Smyth said he had read and considered many favorable letters on the chef’s behalf.
Fatoohi had just been promoted to an executive chef position, and his employer and other workers took him out to celebrate, and he drank alcohol that night. Robinson said his client doesn’t have a drinking problem.
Smyth told Fatoohi he showed “a good attitude and remorse.”
“My belief is you can move on from this,” he added.
Deputy District Attorney George Modlin unsuccessfully urged a suspended 6-year prison term, saying, “He caused the death of another individual.” Modlin did not object to the sentence with work furlough and probation.
Fatoohi, who lives in El Cajon, attended Alcoholics Anonymous meetings on condition of him being free on his own recognizance. He was given credit for one day spent in jail before he posted bond.