On September 1, 16-year-old Jennifer Petersen was driving her pickup truck into Bonners Ferry, Idaho, when a drunk driver struck her.
Petersen was critically injured and airlifted to a hospital in Seattle for treatment, where she was treated at Kootenai Health. After doctors were able to stabilize Petersen, she was transferred to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle, where she remains under intensive care. Petersen has undergone several surgeries to address her injuries and faces significant rehabilitation and more procedures.
Jose Gonzalez Luna, 54, was arrested in relation to the crash.
Here's more from 9B Idaho News:
A 54-year-old Naples man is in jail charged with aggravated DUI, a felony, and driving without privileges after a head-on collision on Highland Flats Road that seriously injured a Bonners Ferry teen on Monday.
The collision was reported at about 4:02 p.m. on Highland Flats Road near North Idaho Granite Works.
According to court records, Jose Gonzalez Luna was driving a 2013 GMC pickup west when he collided with an eastbound 1987 GMC pickup. A breathalyzer test showed him with a .354 blood alcohol content, and he repeatedly admitted to drinking.
This was not the first time Gonzalez Luna was arrested for DUI. He pled guilty to felony DUI in 2009 and 2011 and pled guilty to misdemeanor DUI in 2004 and 2006.
Gonzalez Luna was also arrested and charged with a third felony DUI on March 1, 2025. According to the Bonners Ferry Herald, law enforcement caught Gonzalez Luna while he was driving on the wrong side of the highway in Naples, and the paper lists the disposition of that case as "guilty with fines of $33.50 and court costs of $56.50."
According to a source, Gonzalez Luna is in the country illegally. In a public comment on the 9B Idaho News story, a man named Michael Perez asked about Gonzalez Luna's immigration status, noting it was absent from the story. Publisher Katie Benning replied to that comment, "Not necessary. Thanks for your input." Perez replied, "It is necessary. If this individual was not here, the poor victim would not be suffering now. I bet the poor teen and his family feel the same. How many more Americans have to be victimized? If the Sheriff’s department does not know, that is another issue indicating incompetence." Benning noted it's not her outlet's practice to check the immigration status of everyone arrested, saying if law enforcement deemed such information necessary, it would be made known in court.
If convicted of the most recent charges, he faces up to 15 years in prison.