Formal felony DUI charges have been filed against a 23-year-old UC Santa Barbara graduate accused of hitting and critically injuring a pedestrian last month in downtown Santa Barbara.
Brent MacDonald Pella, 23, was charged with one felony count of DUI causing injury and one felony count of driving with a 0.08 percent blood alcohol content causing injury, with a special allegation of causing great bodily injury to a 24-year-old pedestrian, identified in the complaint as Camden John Partridge of Fullerton.
The Santa Barbara County District Attorney’s Office filed the charges earlier this week.
Santa Barbara police arrested Pella, a Los Angeles resident, on suspicion of driving under the influence on Oct. 11 after the vehicle he was driving allegedly struck Partridge as he crossed Carrillo Street near the Bath Street intersection, according to police Sgt. Riley Harwood.
Partridge was treated at the scene and taken to Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital with life-threatening injuries around 3 a.m.
Police say Pella was driving a Hyundai Sonata and attempting to make a left turn from the 900 block of Bath Street onto the 300 block of Carrillo Street when Partridge was hit.
A 23-year-old passenger was with Pella, who was given a breath and blood test for alcohol, and later booked into the Santa Barbara County Jail with bail set at $100,000.
Harwood said initial blood test results measured Pella’s blood alcohol content at 0.11 percent, above the 0.08 level at which a driver is presumed to be drunk.
Pella is scheduled to be arraigned on charges Dec. 3, according to Senior Deputy District Attorney Lee Carter, who is prosecuting the case.
— Noozhawk staff writer Gina Potthoff can be reached at gpotthoff@noozhawk.com. Follow Noozhawk on Twitter: @noozhawk, @NoozhawkNews and @NoozhawkBiz. Connect with Noozhawk on Facebook.