Defendant Given Probation for Felony DUI Injuring Two and Fleeing the Scene

Author: District Attorney
Date: 10/3/2025 7:20 PM

District Attorney Dan Dow announced today that John Joseph Cicone, of Paso Robles, entered pleas to all charges for driving under the influence of alcohol and causing great bodily injury to a married couple and fleeing the scene afterwards. Judge gives lenient county jail sentence over the District Attorney's objection advocating for state prison.

Over the prosecutors objection, after hearing from one of the victims who received great bodily injury, Judge Barry T. LaBarbera sentenced John Joseph Cicone to five years of supervised probation with a condition that Cicone serve 270 days (only 135 actual) in the San Luis Obispo County jail. This sentence was given immediately after Deputy District Attorney Delaney Henretty advised the Judge that the sentence should be state prison for a variety of reasons. Photos of the crash are available here via separate links: 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 .

"While the victim in this case gave a compelling statement describing her forgiveness of the defendant, this light sentence and grant of probation is very disappointing," said District Attorney Dan Dow. "This defendant who served the public in a law enforcement position owed a special duty to protect and care for the victims of his selfish criminal conduct. I hope that Mr. Cicone takes the grace he was given by the Judge as motivation to never again drink alcohol and drive a motor vehicle. I hope he will become an outspoken advocate for sober driving for the rest of his life. His conduct could have easily taken the lives of this married couple who were driving carefully and expecting to arrive home safely."

The prosecutor when objecting to a probationary sentence stated the following in open court:

"As we have stated before in chambers, we are opposed to a disposition that doesn't involve a state prison sentence.· Given the violent collision that was caused that night, the severe injuries, life-lasting injuries, sustained by [the victims] and the conduct of the defendant after causing this extremely violent collision where one of the victims was unconscious, initially, when asked [victim] -- when he asked -- the defendant asked [victim], "Are you okay?· Why did you hit me?"· He [the victim] said he was not okay.· And then when Mr. Mejia, a passerby, stopped after the collision and asked the defendant if he had been drinking, he then saw the victims' condition and fled, running away from the collision he caused, fleeing on foot all the way back to his home.

At about 11:05 p.m. he calls 911 and said he was the driver of the truck.· He said somebody hit the side of his truck.· He then hung up, claiming someone from the CHP was at his house, which was a lie.· CHP officers responded to the location that the dispatcher got from the defendant's hang-up call.· They had tried calling the defendant back multiple times, but he didn't answer.· When they responded to his address, later that morning at about 1:03 a.m., he told them that he thought the victims told him they were okay, so he walked home to check on his dogs and horses. He had said he had texted a CHP friend about the crash.· When he was asked to show the text, he said he had deleted it.

He claimed he came home and drank a half a beer and then fell asleep after the violent collision.· He claimed he only had one beer earlier that evening at [a Paso Robles bar].· DA investigators were able to retain receipts and surveillance footage from [the Paso Robles bar] that evening, showing that he drank at least six beers in a two-hour time span earlier that evening before the collision. Additionally, not once in his interview that evening did he ever ask about the condition or wellbeing of the victims, although he did express that he had just paid off his truck."

Summary of the Case:

On June 22, 2024, John Joseph Cicone (dob 05-08-1974), who was at the time employed as an officer for the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, drove a vehicle while under the influence of alcohol and caused great bodily injury to a married couple who were inside the other vehicle. After the collision, Cicone contacted the victim vehicle occupants. At that time, one of the victims was unconscious and the other told Cicone that he was "not okay." Rather than stay, call for help, and administer aid to the injured invidivuals, Cicone fled on foot and walked to his residence leaving his damaged vehicle and the victims at the collision scene. Passersby stopped and questioned Cicone before he left the scene, but he only responded with the word, "no." Cicone gave no indication where he was going. The passerby called 911 and California Highway Patrol arrived at approximately 10:55 p.m. The collision occurred at the intersection of US-101 southbound and San Marcos Road in rural Paso Robles. Both victims sustained very serious injuries and were transported to Sierra Vista Regional Medical Center. After checking the surrounding area, three Sheriff units were unable to locate any person associated with the Dodge Ram that caused the collision.

The defendant called 911 after walking on foot to his home at approximately 11:05 p.m. and reported that someone hit the side of his truck as he tried to tum into his driveway on San Marcos Road. Cicone's description did not match the physical evidence, collision investigation, or the victim's statement. After making the brief report, Cicone hung up on the 911 operator and did not answer repeated return phone calls from law enforcement. Eventually, at approximately 1:00 a.m., California Highway Patrol officers were able to find the defendant at his home where they conducted a driving under the influence investigation.

The California Highway Patrol report included the following description:

"Cicone said he is the primary driver of the vehicle and he believed the crash occurred at 10:30 p.m. After the crash he texted a CHP "buddy" about the crash. When asked to show me the text message he began to show me his messages but then stated he erased the message. When he got home, he drank half of a Coors Light and then fell asleep. He also said, in reference to the beer he drank at his residence, "I didn't finish it." Cicone related he consumed one beer at [a Paso bar] and then drove his friend home. After dropping off his friend in Paso Robles he drove home and that's when the crash occurred. While speaking to Cicone I could smell the odor of an alcoholic beverage emitting from his breath and person and his eyes were red and watery. I asked him a series of pre-FST questions which he answered." At 1:43 and 1:46 a.m., the defendant submitted to a breath analysis and was found to have a blood alcohol content (BAC) of .08, approximately 3 hours after the collision had occurred and he had fled the scene.

The defendant has reportedly now retired after working as a public official for the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation for 18 years. He was ordered to surrender for his county jail sentence at the Superior Court on October 30, 2025.

Here is a copy of the defendant's booking photo. Here is a copy of the charging document or Information.

The public is urged to NEVER drink alcohol or consume a drug and drive a motor vehicle. It is deadly dangerous. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) provides valuable information here. Every day, about 34 people in the United States die in drunk-driving crashes - that's one person every 42 minutes. In 2023, 12,429 people died in alcohol-impaired driving traffic deaths. These deaths were all preventable.

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