According to a report on the KCRA Sacramento website, a man has been arrested on suspicion of DUI following a crash in Stanislaus County Thursday morning.
In a statement, the California Highway Patrol told reporters they received a call from fire officials about the fatal crash on Thursday, October 5, at approximately 7:31 a.m.
Two women were declared dead at the scene, while a third woman was pinned inside her vehicle and had to be extricated. Once freed, paramedics rushed the woman to Doctors Medical Center in Modesto. However, despite all attempts by doctors to save her life, she died from the injuries she suffered in the crash.
An investigation by the CHP determined that 49-year-old Ervin Gordon Wyatt was driving his Lexus sedan eastbound on Highway 132 at a high rate of speed when he suddenly veered to the left and collided with a westbound Hyundai sedan. The collision initiated a rollover crash, and Wyatt’s vehicle landed in a field north of the highway.
The victims in the Hyundai were two sisters from Modesto, ages 67 and 64. The third victim was a 44-year-old woman who had been a passenger in Wyatt’s vehicle.
Wyatt was the only survivor of the crash.
The California Highway Patrol arrested Wyatt and booked him into the Public Safety Center in Modesto. He is facing three counts of felony manslaughter with gross negligence and three felony counts of driving under the influence of alcohol.
A judge has set Wyatt’s bond at $600,000. He remains in custody.
Wyatt’s attorney argued that he was not intoxicated then but was heading home to pick up his daughter after working a graveyard shift. However, an eyewitness to the crash alleges that Wyatt was driving 90 miles per hour, and a breathalyzer test revealed that he had alcohol in his system at the time of the crash.
