Driver Who Drove Car Into Bakery Sentenced to Almost 17 Years

A man convicted of being under the influence of marijuana when his car crashed into the last summer, injuring five people, was sentenced Wednesday to nearly 17 years in state prison. Three teenagers and a man eating dinner suffered serious injuries, including broken bones, from the Aug. 15 crash.

Ronald Troyer, 66, was of driving while intoxicated, reckless driving, hit and run and a misdemeanor charge of driving on a suspended license. A jury also found that the defendant inflicted great bodily injury on the victims.

Superior Court Judge William Kronberger Jr. said the case represented a lifetime of bad choices made by Troyer, whose criminal record of DUI, theft and reckless driving convictions date back to 1963. The judge said the crash robbed the exuberance and joy from the lives of the teens injured in the accident.

“It really goes way beyond their physical injuries,” Kronberger said. “Our greatest resources are our youth. This is the time that should be joy ... but it’s not.”

Teens Ian Brininstool and Myles Polger broke numerous bones in the accident, and Alani Aguerre suffered a broken pelvis. Jeffrey Macelli received serious injuries when Troyer’s car slammed into the table he was sitting in with his wife, Sharon, who was also injured, but not as severely.

“These are horrendous injuries,” Kronberger said as he handed down the 16-year, eight-month sentence.

Deputy Public Defender David Thompson told the judge that Troyer was remorseful the moment he realized what happened.

Troyer would always ask, “How is the little girl? Is she going to be OK?” Thompson told the judge. “Certainly he should not have been driving that day.”

But Deputy District Attorney David Uyar said Troyer was not remorseful, just sad. The prosecutor said the injuries suffered by the victims are just the “tip of the iceberg” on their road to recovery.

“It’s because of him (Troyer) that they suffered the way they did,” Uyar told the judge.

The victims were injured around 6:30 p.m. on Aug. 13 when Troyer’s car veered onto the sidewalk, then crashed into the bakery.

Uyar said during his closing arguments that Troyer smoked marijuana before his car plowed into the bakery, and the drug was found in his system after blood was drawn three hours after the crash.

Witnesses at the crash scene thought Troyer was under the influence of something, Uyar said. The notion that the marijuana detected in Troyer’s system had been there for a week was “rubbish,” the prosecutor said.

“He smoked recently,” Uyar told the jury.

Thompson told the jury that there was reasonable doubt that Troyer was under the influence of marijuana or any other substance at the time of the crash and suggested he suffered a seizure.

Thompson said Troyer was driving normally, then “all of a sudden, something happened.”

“That could have been the seizure right there,” the defense attorney said. “Something happened in his body, and it wasn’t the pot. Seizures don’t give notice.”

Uyar said Troyer tried to shift the blame away from himself after the crash, saying things like, “Oh this is bad,” “Someone stole my car,” “I wasn’t driving” and “I must have blacked out,” along with blaming the crash on mechanical failure.

Passenger Jeffrey Stewart testified that he tried to get Troyer to pull over just before the crash. Stewart, who described Troyer as a friend, said they were driving toward
a scenic vista to look at the surf when the defendant spotted a classic 1956 Chevrolet carrying some young people and then, without explanation, took his foot off the accelerator and coasted at a slow speed.

When the vehicle struck the curb of a roundabout, Stewart said he suggested to Troyer that he stop driving but instead of stopping, Troyer straightened out the sedan, “put the pedal to the metal” and took his hands off the steering wheel.

“He just kind of punched it and fell back in his seat,” Stewart said. “I feel there is something wrong with this man.”

He said he tried to put his own foot on the brake and braced for a collision. The defendant’s eyes showed a “piercing madness” and “some type of anger,” Stewart said.

He said Troyer did not say a word as they “barreled” over another roundabout, hit the teens and went into the bakery, or in the moments immediately after the crash.

Before he was sentenced Wednesday, Troyer made a brief statement to the court.

“My major concern is for those who were hurt ... that they heal,” the defendant said.

City News Service contributed to this report.