Driver in fatal El Cajon crash charged with Manslaughter
EAST COUNTY REGIONAL COURT — The driver Richard Alfred Daus, 74, who crashed into a Carl’s Jr. restaurant in El Cajon last month, was charged with vehicular manslaughter and driving while under the influence and could face 15 years to life in prison. The driver was arrested about 11 a.m. yesterday by El Cajon police. Daus who has prior duis and a history of arrests was charged under a section of state DUI law that calls for harsher sentences for people with a history of DUI’s. The drivers blood acohol content was nearly three times the legal limit of 0.08 percent two hours after the wreck. Randy Eugene Smith,66, who was killed in the crash, was a regular customer at the Carl’s Jr. in the Madison Plaza. Smith was eating breakfast at his reguklar corner booth when a Honda SUV driven by Daus slammed into the restaurant. The accident was caught on survelience tapes.
