A 44-year-old San Fernando man has pleaded not guilty to three charges in connection with a fatal crash last month.
Sean Alexander O’Donnell faces three counts for the March 1 crash shortly after midnight near the intersection of Railroad Avenue and Market Street: gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated; a DUI that caused injury; and driving with a blood-alcohol content above .08, which is the legal limit for drivers aged 21 years and older.
Santa Clarita Valley Sheriff’s Station deputies who investigated the crash said the initial report was a single-vehicle incident that resulted in the death of Sean Edward Brown, a 56-year-old San Fernando Valley man.
After entering his plea April 17, O’Donnell was released in lieu of $100,000 bail under a number of conditions, including prohibition from consuming alcohol or driving, and he must submit to electronic monitoring, according to the L.A. County Superior Court minute order for his hearing.
O’Donnell was driving on Railroad Avenue at a high rate of speed when the car collided with an electrical pole at the intersection, Deputy Robert Jensen, spokesman for the SCV Sheriff’s Station, said shortly after the crash. Jensen said the car’s pace resulted in it traveling down the street for a significant distance after striking the pole, before coming to a stop at 6th Street.
The charges against O’Donnell include allegations that he caused his victim, Brown, serious injury or death, and that he suffered prior convictions as an adult and “sustained petitions in juvenile delinquency proceedings that are numerous and of increasing seriousness,” according to the court’s minute order.
