Twice-Convicted DUI Driver Charged With Killing 88-Year-Old: Police

DANA POINT, CA — A 48-year-old twice-convicted drunk driver was charged Tuesday with a deadly crash that killed an 88-year-old man in Dana Point.

Serence Francie Rosenberg, of Dana point, was charged with second-degree murder, driving under the influence of alcohol causing injury and driving under the influence with a blood-alcohol level at or above the legal limit of .08 percent causing injury, court records show.

Rosenberg stands accused of killing Dana Point resident Melvin Joseph Weibel, 88, in a head-on crash involving a Land Rover SUV and Ford Transit van at Golden Lantern and Stonehill Drive Friday.

According to authorities, Rosenberg was driving the Land Rover west on Stonehill when she turned against a red arrow signal in front of the van, which was headed eastbound on Stonehill.

The van's driver was taken to a hospital to be treated for serious, but not life-threatening injuries, according to the Orange County Sheriff's Department. Weibel was a passenger in the van, deputies said.

Rosenberg pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor count of driving with a blood-alcohol level of .08% or more on Feb. 22, 2011. She pleaded guilty Jan. 20, 2012, to misdemeanor counts of child abuse and endangerment, driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs and driving with a blood-alcohol content of .08% or more.

The prior drunken driving convictions allow prosecutors to escalate what would usually be a voluntary manslaughter case to second-degree murder. Manslaughter convictions carry a punishment of a finite term in prison, but murder mandates a life sentence, meaning the defendant would have to petition for release from a parole board.

City News Service contributed to this report.