Beaumont man gets 17-year prison sentence for DUI crash that killed motorcyclist in Banning

Last Updated on August 20, 2019 by CCAR Staff

BANNING — A probationer who struck and killed a 65-year-old motorcyclist in Banning while driving drunk was sentenced Monday to 17 years and four months in state prison.

Gabriel Simeon Beltran, 27, of Beaumont pleaded guilty last month to vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated, assault resulting in great bodily injury, breaching a roadway divider resulting in injuries and a sentence-enhancing allegation of fleeing the scene of a crime. In exchange for his admissions, the Riverside County District Attorney’s Office dropped six related felony and misdemeanor charges.

Superior Court Judge Becky Dugan imposed the sentence stipulated under the plea agreement.

Beltran was driving his SUV drunk through the intersection of South San Gorgonio Avenue and Wesley Street on the evening of Dec. 13, 2017, when he drifted into opposing traffic lanes and ran into Banning resident Vincent Hernandez, killing the motorcyclist on the spot, police said.

Beltran abandoned his vehicle and ran away. Officers located him two hours later at a residence on North Eighth Street, where he was taken into custody without a struggle and determined to be inebriated.

According to court records, the defendant has a 2014 conviction for misdemeanor DUI.