Friends Establish Donation Website For Temecula Man Critically Injured By Suspected Drunk Driver

Friends of a 27-year-old Temecula man who sustained serious injuries Sunday night after a suspected drunk driver plowed into his vehicle are hoping to raise money to help with his medical bills.

Dustin Courts was driving a 1998 Ford Contour when Angel Lopez, 19, allegedly plowed into him while driving under the influence of alcohol at the intersection of Rancho California and Margarita roads Sunday night.

Courts is currently hospitalized in critical condition, according to his friend Ashleigh Morin, who, along with her husband Ryan, have set up a website that aims to raise funds for his recovery.

Ryan and Courts are close friends and co-workers, Ashleigh said. 

According to the fundraising website YouCaring.com, money raised for Courts will help his family deal with the financial hardship they are suffering as well as assist with his medical bills.

An avid traveler who loves music, Courts became an innocent victim Sunday night. Lopez was allegedly trying to flee a crash he caused at Rancho California Road and Meadows Parkway when moments later he struck Courts' vehicle.

When officers from the Temecula Police Department arrived on scene of the second crash that was reported just before 7 p.m., “they found a 1998 Dodge truck and a 1998 Ford Contour resting on their wheels in the eastbound lanes of Rancho California Road," Sgt. John Magnan reported. 

Courts sustained major injuries and was transported to a local hospital.

During the crash investigation, officers from the Temecula Police Department determined that Lopez was fleeing the first wreck when he began driving westbound on Rancho California and entered the Margarita intersection against a red light and struck the vehicle Court was in.

Magnan reported that alcohol use by Lopez contributed to the cause of the crashes.