‘Generous, loving’: Victim crushed to death in Fair Oaks DUI rollover identified
A close friend of the victim in a fatal DUI rollover earlier this week in Fair Oaks says loved ones are devastated after the man’s horrifying death.
Heather Beck says her friend Danny Helmer, a 56-year-old Citrus Heights resident, died when the Chevrolet Tahoe in which he was riding in the front passenger seat overturned, fatally crushing him after he was ejected Monday night.
The California Highway Patrol said this week that the SUV was heading east on Sunset Avenue near Pennsylvania Avenue at an unknown speed around 9 p.m. when it hit the guy-wire of a power pole along the side of the road, causing it to begin to roll over.
The front passenger, who was not restrained by a seat belt, was ejected from the vehicle and fell beneath it as it flipped, resulting in fatal injuries, according to the CHP. Two teenage passengers in the back seat also suffered minor injuries.
A CHP North Sacramento office spokesperson initially referred to the deceased as a woman, but a news release that followed said the victim was a 56-year-old man.
The CHP announced the arrest of Debra Christie, a 39-year-old Folsom woman, who was found about 90 minutes later hiding in the yard of a nearby residence. Officers determined Christie was under the influence of both drugs and alcohol, and she was arrested on suspicion of manslaughter, DUI and hit-and-run.
“He was the most generous, loving, caring, friend that anyone could ask for,” Beck said of Helmer in an email to The Sacramento Bee on Thursday. “He didn’t deserve to go yet. His family and I are completely at a loss for words.”
The Sacramento County Coroner’s Office confirmed the victim’s identity Friday morning in an email to The Bee.
