SALINAS – A Monterey County jury found 47-year old Jenny Rebecca Lesch guilty of a 2023 vehicular manslaughter with gross negligence, felony hit-and-run with injury or death and assault with a deadly weapon.
Lesch, a former resident of Cachagua, Carmel Valley, will be sentenced Nov. 18. She faces a maximum of nine years in state prison.
According to a press release from the Monterey County District Attorney’s office, on May 31, 2023, James Pack was driving home. As he merged onto Highway 1 south from Fremont Street, he was tailgated by Lesch, driving a dark gray SUV. After the merge, Lesch reportedly swerved into another lane, where she almost hit another car, then hit her brakes to block Pack’s van as he attempted to merge into the lane she was in.
A press release states that Lesch and Pack flipped each other off, then Pack merged behind Lesch.
Lesch repeatedly brake-checked Pack’s van as the vehicles approached the exit at Aguajito Roach, which caused Pack to lose control. As Pack’s van started swerving out of control, Lesch made an unsafe turn into another lane, where she nearly hit a silver Honda. The silver Honda also swerved out of control to avoid Lesch’s vehicle, where they collided with Pack’s van on the shoulder of the highway. The collision, just south of the Aguajito Road exit offramp, caused Pack’s van to roll multiple times and he was ejected from the vehicle.
Pack died from his injuries later that day. He is survived by his wife of 25 years, his multiple adult children and brother.
Lesch and the silver Honda driver fled the scene after the collision and the driver of the silver Honda was later found and prosecuted for fleeing the scene of an accident that caused death.
California Highway Patrol officers contacted Lesch at her home that night, where she denied any involvement with the accident. She repeatedly lied to police in her statement, claiming she was unable to call 911 because her phone wasn’t working.
Forensic evidence later showed that Lesch’s phone was powered on and was receiving signal at the time of the crash. The forensic evidence from the scene and dash camera footage captured part of the incident that contradicted Lesch’s statement.
Lesch was also prosecuted in 2021 for vandalizing a Tesla sedan in Newport Beach, as a result of a separate road rage incident. A press release states that Lesch felt the Tesla had cut her off and almost hit her because the driver failed to yield while she was walking to her car in a parking lot.
Lesch had confronted the Tesla driver, yelling at her. After the driver went into a store, Lesch was caught on video keying the Tesla. Lesch was confronted by police a few days after the incident and repeatedly lied to them, saying she only spat on the Tesla.
Lesch eventually admitted she keyed the car in anger, after she was told police had the evidence on video.
