Family, Friends Mark 1 Year Since Fatal Crash

Confronted with signs that said "Call a cab," "Drunk Driving Kills" and "My Dad was Killed by a Drunk Driver," passing cars slowed Friday along Clinton Keith Road.

Some drivers honked and others waved at the small crowd gathered near Bear Creek Fire Station.

Family and friends of a La Cresta man remembered him on the one-year anniversary of his death by standing at the crash site, armed with the anti-DUI messages.

"I feel like I am doing the right thing, it is the necessary thing," said 36-year-old Michael Johnson, son of victim, Richard "Dick" Johnson. "This is an awful thing that happened to us. When you are related to a victim of a tragedy like this you have a responsibility to spread the message."

Dick's older son, Richard, stood near a makeshift memorial. He held a sign with his father's picture on it.

He remembers the night vividly.

"I drove home from work and talked to him for about 15 minutes about horses, then I went riding and he went to Lowe's," Richard said. "When I came back from riding I saw he wasn't home and I knew something was wrong."

He said he got in his car and drove down from La Cresta. Once on Clinton Keith Road, he said he came upon the crash site—about 100 feet south of the fire station at the Murrieta city limit.

His father's Lincoln was barely recognizable, he said, nor was the Toyota pickup truck that had allegedly hit him head on.

Both drivers were transported to Inland Valley Regional Medical Center. . The other driver, identified by authorities as 40-year-old Richard Proger of Menifee, survived his injuries.

It would take Murrieta police more than a month to receive toxicology reports that allegedly indicated Proger had been driving under the influence of alcohol and vicodin.

and pleaded not guilty to DUI gross vehicular manslaughter. Proger, a married father, posted $75,000 bail and hired a private attorney to defend him.

A year later, the trial has been rescheduled from Aug. 21 to Sept. 18.

"There have been a variety of reasons why the case has been continued," said John Hall, spokesperson for the Riverside County District Attorney's Office. "The defense has requested additional time to prepare and get some discovery. And the DA’s Office is currently waiting on DNA tests being done related to the investigation."

Hall said those DNA tests were ordered from the defendant, but could not elaborate.

He added that following a preliminary hearing, it was not unusual for a trial to take several months to get underway.

As the Johnson family awaits the trial, they are doing their best to heal.

Dick was loved not only by his but by a tight-knit group of horse lovers who either lived near him at Diamond J Ranch in La Cresta or visited often. Many of them—spanning all ages—stopped by Friday.

"You have to look at a positive spin on things," Richard said, while hugging a number of family friends. "There are probably people who knew him who are still drinking and driving, so hopefully this will help save somebody else. My dad would have wanted this."