Driver pleads guilty to DUI, injuring two

By Neal Putnam

A Ramona motorist will be sentenced Feb. 19 after he pleaded guilty to drunk driving with injuries to a father and daughter in a head-on crash in Ramona.

Deputy District Attorney Genaro Ramirez said John Ryan Mantz, 21, faces a maximum sentence of nine years in state prison after he also admitted to inflicting great bodily injury to the two victims in the other car.

Mantz had been set to stand trial on Jan. 22, but pleaded guilty before El Cajon Superior Court Judge John Thompson. He was driving with a suspended driver’s license during the 8:10 p.m. collision on Sept. 27 at Ramona Oaks and San Vicente roads.

The charges allege he was driving with a blood/alcohol level of at least .15, which is nearly twice the legal limit. The Ford F-150 truck Mantz was driving crashed into a Hyundai driven by Paul Stevens and his 9-year-old daughter, Cheyenne Stevens, of Ramona.

California Highway Patrol said the truck veered across the divided section about 50 mph when it struck the Hyundai, which was traveling at approximately 30 mph. The father and daughter and Mantz were taken to a hospital with injuries.

Mantz could also be placed on probation. He agreed to stand trial on all charges without having a preliminary hearing on Dec. 3. He remains in the George Bailey Detention Facility without bail.