Jury convicts retired cop of lesser charge in Jamestown DUI crash that killed Oakdale woman
By John Holland | The Modesto Bee
A jury on Thursday convicted a retired police officer in a drunk-driving crash that killed an Oakdale woman near Jamestown last year.
Theodore William Young, 64, was found guilty of gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated and a few other charges in Tuolumne County Superior Court. Jurors rejected the more severe charge of second-degree murder in the death of Rebekah Gall.
Young testified that he had drunk six or seven beers in the three hours leading up to the crash Jan. 18, 2022, the Union Democrat reported Wednesday.
He faces up to 10 years in state prison at his April 13 sentencing before Judge Kevin Seibert. The defendant has been in Tuolumne County Jail on $1 million bail.
Young had risen to sergeant with the Pleasanton Police Department before retiring. He also has a 2017 conviction for drunk driving in Sonora.
Gall was 27 years old and working for Tuolumne County Social Services at the time of her death.
The collision happened about 5:15 p.m. on Highway 49 south of Chicken Ranch Road, the California Highway Patrol reported. Gall was southbound in an Acura sedan when it collided head-on with a Toyota pickup truck that had veered into her lane, the report said.
Gall was taken by helicopter to Doctors Medical Center in Modesto, where she died from her injuries. Young, who was not injured, was arrested at the crash scene.
A few days later, more than 150 people gathered in Oakdale’s Valley View Park to mourn Gall.
“She was wonderful,” friend Michelle Alva told The Modesto Bee. “I’m sure everyone will tell you that.”
Along with vehicular manslaughter, Young was convicted on counts related to the severity of the injuries, along with an enhancement for his earlier drunk-driving charge.
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