An Anaheim man who prosecutors say crashed into and killed another motorist during a high-speed police pursuit after an officer spotted him allegedly stealing Legos from a Fullerton grocery store is now facing a vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated charge, the Orange County District Attorney’s office announced on Monday, Dec. 23.
Anthony Michael Hanzal, 43, is also facing felony counts of evading a peace officer causing death and petty theft, according to a DA statement.
On Wednesday, Dec. 18, prosecutors say an undercover officer at an Albertsons store in the area of North Gilbert Street and West Malvern Avenue watched Hanzal grab a box Legos, stuff them into a bag and then leave without paying. The officer, who was in plain clothes and not a uniform, followed Hanzal in an unmarked police car, prosecutors added.
When a uniformed officer arrived in a marked police car and tried to pull Hanzal over, prosecutors say Hanzal made a quick turn onto Brookhurst Street and sped off, rear-ending a vehicle that was stopped at a red light before getting onto the westbound 91 Freeway.
Hanzal exited the freeway at Knott Avenue, prosecutors say, as the chase reached speeds of up to 90 miles per hour on surface streets as it stretched through Buena Park and La Palma.
Prosecutors allege that Hanzal ran a red light at the intersection of La Palma Avenue and Moody Street and collided with the driver’s side of another vehicle. The driver of the other vehicle — 67-year-old Marianne Mildred Casey — was killed instantly, according to the DA statement.
The force of the collision pushed Hanzal’s and Casey’s vehicles into other cars and injured bystanders.
Hanzal — who prosecutors described as a second-striker — is suspected of having been under the influence of drugs at the time of the police chase and fatal crash, prosecutors added.
“Enough is enough. Actions have consequences and I am mad as hell that an elderly woman is dead because a drug addicted repeat thief decided to steal Legos from a grocery store and then lead multiple police agencies on a high-speed chase through Orange County in the middle of the day,” Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer said in a written statement. “Marianne Casey’s family should be planning their holiday celebrations and instead they are planning a funeral because California’s soft-on-crime policies have created an environment where there is no accountability…
Those days are over, and while may be of little comfort to Marianne Casey’s loved ones, if you commit crimes in Orange County, there will be consequences for your actions and there will be justice for victims,” The DA added.
Hanzal made an initial court appearance on Friday, but did not enter a plea. He is scheduled to return to court for an arraignment on Jan. 6. If convicted of all his current charges, Hanzal faces up to 26 years and four months in prison.