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Authorities announced Friday afternoon they’ve obtained an arrest warrant for a Pleasanton woman in connection with the crash that killed a toddler on Interstate 680 in San Ramon last September.
Yarenit Liliana Malihan, 40, has been charged with gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated and felony driving under the influence following more than eight months of investigation into the crash that killed 3-year-old Elijah Dunn, according to the California Highway Patrol’s Dublin-area office.
It was not immediately clear whether Malihan had been arrested over the weekend on the warrant that was jointly obtained by the CHP and the Contra Costa County District Attorney’s Office.
“The California Highway Patrol is committed to ensuring that drunk and drug impaired drivers are removed from our highways. We are dedicated to preventing DUI related tragedies. We will continue to support the Dunn family as this case proceeds through the judicial system,” said Capt. Christopher Sherry, commander of the Dublin-area CHP.
According to the initial crash report from the CHP, Malihan’s Toyota Sequoia slammed into the back of a black Toyota Camry parked on the shoulder of northbound I-680 near Bollinger Canyon Road, killing Dunn and injuring his mother, brother and sister around 6:20 p.m. on Sept. 9.
At the time of the crash, Malihan was identified as the wife of an unnamed Alameda County Sheriff’s deputy — though their marital status is not currently known. She was arrested several days after the crash but has remained out of custody with the investigation ongoing.
CHP officials completed their investigation on Jan. 20 and forwarded the case to the Contra Costa DA’s Office for review and further investigation. That process led to the filing of charges on Friday.
In the months since the fatal crash, Malihan has been sentenced in one unrelated DUI case and arrested on suspicion of public intoxication in Pleasanton in another incident earlier this month.
Most recently, she was arrested on May 12 after Pleasanton police allege she was seen severely intoxicated near Bernal Avenue and Sunol Boulevard early that afternoon.
Malihan was also sentenced in December after pleading no contest to misdemeanor DUI and child cruelty charges for reportedly driving while intoxicated with her daughter in the car last June.
Prayers for all
it’s about time!
TV & movie investigators/lawyer get their cases investigated/solved, litigation brought/decided within 60 to 120 minutes. Real lift takes longer – I get that. But, 4+ months to investigate and another 4 months to bring charges!!! This case appears to be unusually linear – a multiple-DUI-violator crashing into a parked car killing one of the three occupants – a young child. Could it be that CoCo DA Peterson is too busy defending himself against illegal use of campaign funds AND running for re-election to efficiently deal with the caseload he was elected to manage? It seems almost impossible to make this case any more sad – but Mr. Peterson “succeeded”!! Reelection? Let’s hope not!!!
This case is disturbing on many levels. A child is dead. The legal system has moved painfully slow in filing charges against the individual responsible. It would appear that this is due to favoritism as this individual is related to a law inforcement officer. If the dead child was related to a law inforcement officer, attorney, or judge, this woman would already be convicted and in jail by this time. If you or I were responsible for the child’s death, we would already be sitting in jail by now. The previous comment called for prayers. Indeed, prayers are needed… that this woman receives the punishment that she deserves and that the grieving family of the child is somehow able to find the justice and closure that they deserve.
Lock her up and throw away the key!! People like that should not be driving!!