The Desert Sun reports that a 27-year-old man from Palm Springs was arrested on suspicion of driving while intoxicated after a fatal crash in the early hours of Sunday, December 24.
In a statement, the California Highway Patrol’s Public Information Officer David Torres said that dispatchers received a call about the crash at approximately 2:05 a.m.
Responding CHP officers determined that a car traveling westbound on Interstate 10 near the Jefferson Street exit made an unsafe right turn and crashed into a guardrail. The force of the impact with the guardrail caused a 35-year-old woman who was a passenger to be ejected from the vehicle. The woman died at the scene of the crash.
The unidentified suspect driver of the vehicle was taken to an area hospital with complaints of pain. Immediately following treatment by doctors, he was arrested at the hospital for allegedly driving under the influence of alcohol.
Authorities say most of the westbound lanes were closed while the crash was investigated and debris cleared from the interstate. The third lane of the highway was reopened to traffic some three hours later at approximately 5:00 a.m.
