Convicted drunken driver charged in Laguna Hills crash

A 39-year-old convicted drunken driver was charged Friday, March 15 with a DUI crash in Laguna Hills that injured three people.

William Ryan Martensen was charged with driving under the influence of alcohol and a drug while causing injury, driving the wrong way on a divided highway causing injury or death, possession of a firearm by a felon and a prohibited person owning ammunition, all felonies. Martensen is also facing sentencing enhancements for inflicting great bodily injury on the victims.

The crash occurred about 6 p.m. Wednesday at Paseo De Valencia and Los Alisos. Orange County sheriff’s deputies did not immediately respond to a request for further details.

Martensen did not enter a plea at his arraignment Friday in the jail courtroom in Santa Ana. Martensen, who was being held on $1 million bail, is scheduled to be arraigned March 29 in the Harbor Justice Center in Newport Beach.

Martensen pleaded guilty to a felony count of driving under the influence of alcohol and a misdemeanor count of hit and run with property damage in December 2017. He pleaded guilty in November 2010 to a misdemeanor count of driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs. In June of 2008 and September of 2007 he pleaded guilty to misdemeanor driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs.

Source: Orange County Register