Castroville man sentenced to prison for DUI crash that injured several people

SALINAS, Calif. (KION) The Monterey County District Attorney's Office said Castroville resident Miguel Angel Diaz will spend four years and four months in prison for driving under the influence and causing injuries.

The crash happened in Oct. 2018. Salinas police officers responded to Boronda Road for a report of a vehicle crash that caused injuries. When they got there, all of the passengers of the vehicles involved had to be extricated and treated.

One of the vehicles had a family of six inside, and some of them were children. The DA's Office said the mother was laying in the road with bystanders helping her. She was in and out of consciousness. Other injuries ranged from cuts to a 15-year-old with rib fractures and internal injuries.

Diaz said he had not been driving and had been dropped of at the scene by a friend, but he refused to say who his friend was. Officers said there was blood on his hands. They also said they smelled alcohol on his breath and that he had red, watery eyes and slurred speech.

During the investigations, officers found that Diaz had been driving and conducted a DUI investigation. His blood alcohol level was nearly twice the legal limit.

Diaz will have to serve 85% of his sentence before he is eligible for parole.