A 57-year-old Los Angeles resident who was killed on Interstate 805 in Nestor last week after his van was hit by a wrong-way driver was identified by his family Monday.
Abel Bermudez Griego, the father of six children, ages 10 to 40, was killed in last Wednesday’s crash, according to his family in an interview with Fox 5 San Diego.
The crash was reported at 11:55 a.m. Wednesday and involved a blue minivan and white Audi sedan, according to San Diego Fire-Rescue Department spokesman Jose Ysea.
The Audi, driven by Fernando Goneortiz, 29, “was traveling northbound in southbound lanes of traffic,” according to the CHP. A man was driving the Honda minivan in the No. 2 lane when the Audi collided with his vehicle. The minivan driver was killed.
Goneortiz was initially taken into custody on suspicion of driving under the influence but was taken to a hospital for treatment.
Last week, he pleaded not guilty from the hospital to charges of gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated, DUI causing injury, great bodily injury allegations, and a misdemeanor count of driving the wrong way on a highway.
He remains in custody on $500,000 bail, according to county jail records.
According to Griego’s family, the father was driving southbound on I- 805 to Ensenada to see his mother and pick up his daughter for a weekend trip. That’s when an Audi sedan collided with his Honda van and he was later pronounced dead.
“This just flipped my family’s world upside down and right now we still can’t believe it,” Jorge Benitez, the victim’s son, told Fox 5. “He was just a great guy. I’m going to miss him. Everybody loved him.”
A GoFundMe page intended to raise funds for the victim’s family is set up at https://www.gofundme.com/f/memorial-funds-for-abel- bermudez?member=28412683&sharetype=teams&utm_campaign=p_na+share- sheet&utm_medium=copy_link&utm_source=customer.
— City News Service
