Speeding DUI Driver Sent to Jail for Killing Friend after Crashing into a tree

Posted by CotoBlogzz

Rancho Santa Margarita, CA  - Andrew Stueber was sentenced today to one year in jail and put on formal probation for five years for killing his friend after slicing his car in half by crashing into a tree. Andrew Stueber, 27, was found guilty by a jury Feb. 8, 2012, of one felony count of vehicular manslaughter with gross negligence.

According to the Orange County District Attorney’s (OCDA) office, at approximately 2:10 a.m. on Aug. 1, 2009, Stueber was driving in a Ford Mustang after a night of drinking with friends at Goodys Tavern in San Clemente. He was the designated driver. He was speeding on Avenida Vista Montana at over 55 mph in a 35 mph zone with friends Edmund Vandecasteele, 22, Robert Nichols, 22, and Kyle Nance, 21, as passengers in he car. 

Stueber lost control of his car while driving at a high rate of speed and crossed over onto the wrong side of the road. He then crashed into a tree, severing his car in half. 

Stueber was transported to the hospital to be treated for head trauma. Approximately two hours after the crash, he had a blood alcohol level of .09 percent. 

Vandecasteele, who had been riding in the front passenger seat, was pronounced dead at the scene due to multiple traumatic injuries. Nichols and Nance, who had been riding in the back seat, were transported to the hospital to be treated for cuts and bruises. 


Deputy District Attorney Nancy Hayashida of the Homicide Unit prosecuted this case.