SANTA ANA – A 53-year-old Placentia man has been sentenced to four years in prison for his ninth DUI conviction in less than six years, according to court records.
Derek Haskayne pleaded guilty this week to felony drunk-driving charges and to misdemeanor charges for driving on a suspended license and operating a vehicle when prohibited by court order.
Haskayne had faced a maximum of five years in prison, in part because of his prior DUI convictions. As part of his plea deal with Orange County Superior Court Judge Roger Robbines, he was sentenced to four years in prison and given credit for 286 days of time served, according to court records.
He also was ordered to pay $15,272 in restitution for the Jan. 29 incident when he crashed his vehicle into a high-voltage power box on Lakeview Avenue in Placentia.
In court records, Haskayne admitted to driving on a suspended license and without his court-ordered ignition interlock device. He had a blood-alcohol level of 0.11 percent.
The prosecution had objected to the deal, arguing for a longer sentence.
The most recent case marks Haskayne’s ninth’s DUI conviction and soon-to-be third stint in prison for drunk driving.
His long-time defense attorney, Marlon Stapleton, on Thursday said Haskayne can hopefully get help and recover from his severe alcohol addiction.
Stapleton said he understands the public’s concern over Haskayne’s actions, but under the law, even repeat DUI offenders can only be sentenced to a certain amount of time.
For repeat felony DUI cases that do not result in injuries, like with Haskayne’s cases, the maximum sentence is three years in prison, plus an additional year for each prior prison term, he said.
Stapleton said Haskayne got most of the DUIs when he was experiencing a major life trauma, which triggered his addiction.
“It’s everyone’s hope that at some point in time he finally realizes that drinking and driving is not any way to solve the problems that he’s had in his life,” Stapleton said. “He’s not a bad guy, he just has a serious, serious problem.”
The owner of a manufacturing company, d/k technologies in Placentia, Haskayne was arrested for his first DUI in October 2011.
Less than two months later, he was again arrested for a DUI, according to court records. By July 2012, less than a year after his first, he had netted six DUI arrests.
The District Attorney’s Office consolidated his six DUI cases and charged him with multiple felonies. In June 2013, Haskayne pleaded guilty and was sentenced by a Superior Court judge to one year in jail.
Haskayne received his seventh DUI less than a year later and was sentenced to two years in prison, according to court records. In June 2015, Haskayne got his eighth DUI arrest when a Laguna Beach police officer watched him glide slowly onto a sidewalk and crash into a light pole.
“The offender was slumped over the steering wheel and appeared out of it,” a probation report says. “He appeared to be dazed and groggy.”
He was sentenced to three years in prison and later completed a residential treatment program. But on Jan. 20, he was kicked out of his sober-living home for testing positive for methamphetamine and cocaine, according to court records.
A week later, he crashed in Placentia.
