The wife of a cheese company CEO has been charged with a DUI after allegedly causing a 125mph crash in her Maserati that left three people injured.
Lori Rossi Gallo, 46, was arraigned on Monday and pleaded not guilty to the felonies of driving under the influence of an alcoholic beverage causing injury and driving with a .08 per cent blood alcohol content causing injury, the Merced Sun-Star reported.
She’s married to Michael Gallo, the CEO and co-owner of Joseph Gallo Farms in Merced County, east of San Jose, California.
Police say that Ms Gallo was driving 125mph in her Maserati on 22 January, hitting a Lexus and a Honda, with Ms Gallo and the Lexus ending up in a ditch hundreds of feet away. Another vehicle was also damaged.
A criminal complaint filed on 10 February stated that three people were injured. Ms Gallo was arrested on the night of 22 January and was released on bail.
Ms Gallo has served as the community liaison between the company and the University of California Merced and she has also been on the board of directors of the Merced County Fair.
Her lawyer Peter Jones told the Merced Sun-Star on Tuesday that neither he nor his client is able to comment on the case, except that “she is very dedicated to the Merced community” and that “she is taking this case very seriously”.
Judge Steven Slocum told Ms Gallo on Monday that she had to avoid drugs and alcohol, not enter any store or business that mostly sells alcohol, and continue going to Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) meetings.
Mr Jones said in the courtroom that she had been attending three AA meetings every week and that she’s enrolled in a driving while intoxicated (DWI) programme.
A preliminary hearing has been scheduled for 21 April, the local paper reported.
