According to a recent report from Yahoo! News, two teens were killed in two separate crashes over the recent Superbowl weekend.
In a statement, the California Highway Patrol said the two deadly crashes, each involving a motorist believed to have been under the influence of alcohol at the time. Both motorists were arrested.
The first crash says that the first crash happened at approximately 5:30 a.m. on Sunday, February 13th, when 25-year-old Eric Torres of Bakersfield was driving his pickup truck with three other people in the vehicle when he crashed at a curve in the road on Elkhorn near Jameson Avenue.
A 16-year-old male passenger inside the truck was not wearing a seatbelt and was ejected from the vehicle. Despite all lifesaving attempts made by emergency responders, the teen died at the crash scene.
Torres and his two other passengers suffered only minor injuries. CHP officers at the scene determined that Torres had been driving under the influence of alcohol and placed him under arrest on the charges of vehicular manslaughter and DUI. He is currently being held on a $63,000 bond.
The second crash, a head-on collision, happened just after 6:00 p.m. on Avenue 15 near Road 39 ½, where a vehicle crossed the center lane and into the path of an oncoming car. The crash killed a 19-year-old woman from Madera.
Investigators say that 24-year-old Lorenzo Morales-Cortes was arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence of alcohol after being taken to the hospital with major injuries. A spokesperson for the CHP said that this is not Morales- Cortes’ first DUI offense. He is on probation for a prior DUI conviction from an incident in Fresno.
Officers with the Fresno Police Department conducted a DUI checkpoint on Sunday night. Five people were arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence of alcohol. Officers with the Clovis Police Department conducted checkpoints and arrested two drivers on suspicion of DUI.
Officer Javier Ruvalcaba with the California Highway Patrol reminds motorists, “Drugs, alcohol, and driving don’t mix. If you’re gonna drink, don’t drive, and if you’re gonna drive, don’t drink.”
