Three teenage children were left without parents when a driver, arrested on DUI and gross vehicular manslaughter charges, allegedly drove her car into them as the couple was out walking their dog, Menlo Park police said.
Cmdr. Dave Bertini said police took 54-year-old Marjorie Reitzell of Redwood City to the hospital after the Thursday evening crash, and added that she will be formally booked when she is released.
Sources tell NBC Bay Area that Reitzell was also convicted of misdemeanor drunk driving charges in San Mateo County in 2012.
Family members at the crash scene Friday -- Chilco Street, west of Constitutional Drive -- identified the deceased couple as Balbir Singh and Kamal Kaur, both in their 50s. Their children had called police when their parents didn't come home. Police broke the news to them around midnight.
"They are all crying, they lost their father and mother," Sarjeet Singh, the victims' brother-in-law, told NBC Bay Area on Friday morning.
Many of the couple's relatives gathered near where they were killed to see it for themselves. They were heartbroken.
"I am very much confused. I lost my brother. I'm pretty sad, and just, have no words," brother Amrit Singh said.
Reitzell also is accused of hitting another vehicle, with four occupants, before crashing into a tree, police said. The people in the other vehicle were not injured.
VIDEO: Family of Couple Angry at Driver
When officers arrived on scene at 6:55 p.m. they found two bodies in the road. Both victims were pronounced dead at the scene. Their Chihuahua, Teddy, was taken to a veterinarian, suffering from brain damage.
Police said officers detected symptoms of intoxication and placed Reitzell under arrest; she also complained of some pain and was taken to Stanford hospital for treatment.
When she is released from the hospital, police say Reitzell will be booked on two counts of gross vehicular manslaughter and two counts of felony DUI.
Loretta Little and Lepoleon McLamore are surprised. They say Reitzell is a friend, someone they say has a family of her own.
“For something like this to happen-- she has children, and I know she’s mourning the people she hit,” Little said.
McLamore said Reitzell has a daughter and granddaughter. “I feel for them,” she said. “And I feel for the victim’s family as well.”
Teddy suffered some brain damage on his left side, but vets say he should be okay after a few days of intensive care.
