Drunk driver sentenced to 7 years in prison for fatal Prunedale crash
UPDATE: 10/31/2018 11:08 a.m. A Santa Cruz man was sentenced to seven years in prison for a crash that killed a woman and left two others severely injured in Prunedale.
The fatal accident happened on March 14, 2017.
The Monterey County District Attorney’s Office said, 22-year-old Bryan Onofre Garcia was driving drunk when he veered off San Miguel Canyon Road and into oncoming traffic.
“Witnesses reported the defendant, Bryan Garcia, was driving a sedan and following the vehicle ahead of him too closely. At one point, Garcia veered into the oncoming lane of traffic to pass the vehicle, however failed to return to the southbound lane,” said the DA’s Office.
Garcia struck an oncoming car, causing his vehicle to flip and land on its side. Garcia as well as one of his passengers, and the driver of the car that he hit suffered broken bones among other injuries.
One of Garcia’s passengers, Jennifer Barajas was pronounced dead at the scene of the crash.
Investigators determined Garcia had a blood alcohol level of .10.
Garcia pleaded guilty to one count of vehicular manslaughter while under the influence and an additional 3 years consecutive for causing great bodily injury. He will have to serve 85 percent of his sentence before being eligible for parole.
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A head-on collision left one woman dead and sent three people to the hospital after two cars crashed into each other late Tuesday night on San Miguel Canyon Road near Prunedale.
The crash happened at 11.20pm on March 14 after Freedom resident Bryan O. Garcia, 20, drove a Honda Accord southbound on San Miguel Canyon Road approaching Hambey Lane.
The other driver, identified as El Cajon resident Elizabeth Gutierrez, 20, was driving a Nissan Sentra northbound on San Miguel Canyon Road.
Police say a witness saw Garcia’s car pass across double yellow lines on the roadway. That was when his car crashed head-on into Gutierrez’s car.
After the crash, Garcia’s car continued south and overturned where it landed on its roof, trapping everyone inside. Fire department personnel who arrived to help pronounced the unidentified female in Garcia’s car dead on scene.
Police say Gutierrez, Garcia and the unidentified male passenger all sustained major injuries including blunt force trauma to the head and were transported to Natividad Medical Center in Salinas.
Alcohol is believed to be a factor in the collision. Police say they later arrested Garcia as a result of the collision and he is facing various charges.
The cause of the crash is still under investigation.
