A Clairemont woman who drove drunk on the sand at Mission Beach and hit a young woman was sentenced Dec. 18 to serve one year in a work furlough facility.
Heather Renee Lamb, 24, will be allowed to work days at her new job as an apartment manager but will be locked up at night and on weekends in a work furlough center. San Diego Superior Court Judge David Danielsen allowed her to remain free on $136,000 bond over the holidays, but she must report to the facility on Jan. 17.
Her attorney, Kerry Steigerwalt, said the July 29 incident occurred while she was in an alcoholic blackout, which he described as being “in a fog, a different world” and “the most aberrant day of her life.”
Since then, she has been in an alcohol treatment program, her attorney said.
“She’s willing to abide by each and every condition of probation,” Steigerwalt said. He added
this was the first time Lamb had ever been in an alcoholic blackout.
Lamb struck Kayla Morales Alcala, 19, while driving with a .17 blood/alcohol level, which is twice the legal limit. The victim’s pelvis was broken and she wasn’t able to walk for six weeks, said Deputy District Attorney Melissa Vasel.
Alcala was walking with a friend at night and was struck from behind. Lamb was driving without headlights.
“The driving is outrageous. She’s driving on the beach,” Vasel said. “She could have killed someone.”
Lamb was fined $880 and placed on five years’ probation, which includes a ban on her drinking alcohol or going to businesses where alcohol is served. She could have been sentenced to six years in prison.
During her sentencing, Danielsen told her, “You’re definitely going to prison” if she continues to drink and drive. Lamb worked at a bank in Pacific Beach but lost her job after her arrest. She is also being sued by the victim.
The incident took place following a social occasion with her coworkers, Vasel said. She also struck a parked car and a Dumpster in the 700 block of Ventura Place. She pleaded guilty to hit and run with injury and drunk driving with injury. According to court records, she was also convicted of drunk driving in 2003 in Utah.