Arraignment is scheduled Wednesday for a 20-year-old man
who allegedly was drunk when the car he was driving struck and killed a
retirement-age couple as they walked alongside a North County road.
Earl Smith Jr. of Oceanside was headed east in the 11600 block Old
Castle Road in Valley Center about 6:15 a.m. Sunday when his 2011 Toyota
Corolla drifted to the right and struck Carl Ackermann, 79, and his 78-year-old wife, Eunice, according to the California Highway Patrol. Both victims died at the scene.
Neighbors said the couple had taken daily strolls down the rural road
for about 30 years.
Smith was arrested on suspicion of vehicular manslaughter and driving
while intoxicated.
—City News Service
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