WOODLAND — A Yolo Superior Court judge reduced bail to $80,000 Monday for a Davis man accused of causing a high-speed collision in Winters that critically injured his girlfriend.
Nicholas Anthony Kershner had been in Yolo County Jail custody on a $1 million bail hold since the April 29 collision, during which an allegedly intoxicated Kershner ran a red light on Railroad Avenue at 70 mph and struck a light pole, shearing the passenger side off his Ford truck.
Nicholas Anthony Kershner. Courtesy photo
His girlfriend Brooke Lindsay McNeill, 31, also of Davis, suffered head trauma, internal injuries and multiple fractures in the crash, according to police. She had been sitting in the truck’s passenger seat.
Authorities sought a bail enhancement in the case because it was initially believed that McNeill would not survive her injuries.
“Since then, everyone is in agreement that the victim is now expected to survive,” Deputy District Attorney Frits Van Der Hoek, who is prosecuting the case, said following Monday’s bail hearing.
Winters Police Chief John Miller said Monday that McNeill remains hospitalized but has been moved out of the intensive-care unit and is scheduled for surgeries to repair her fractured bones.
Van Der Hoek said he requested a bail amount of $100,000, while defense attorney Steve Sabbadini asked that Kershner be released on his own recognizance. Judge Timothy Fall settled on $80,000, which is in line with the county’s bail schedule for the charges filed in the case.
Kershner, 30, has pleaded not guilty to a felony count of DUI causing injury with enhancements alleging infliction of great bodily injury and refusal to take a chemical test to determine his blood-alcohol content.
Fall also ordered Kershner to refrain from driving and be fitted with an alcohol monitoring bracelet if he is released on bail.
A preliminary hearing in the case is scheduled for Friday.
— Reach Lauren Keene at lkeene@davisenterprise.net or 530-747-8048. Follow her on Twitter at @laurenkeene