A 25-year-old Fallbrook man was facing vehicular manslaughter charges Monday after a crash on state Route 78 in San Marcos that killed four of seven people in a SUV.
It was the second major vehicular accident in North County on Sunday. Earlier a wrong-way driver being chased by California Highway Patrol officers killed himself and two people in an oncoming car on Interstate 5 in Solana Beach.
In the San Marcos accident, the driver of a 2014 Chevy Sonic sedan, whose name was not immediately available, told investigators he was attempting to change lanes on the eastbound freeway near Nordahl Road shortly after 10:30 p.m. Sunday, then saw a SUV in his path, CHP Officer Jim Bettencourt said.
The driver of the Sonic and that of the 2003 Toyota Sequoia attempted to avoid each other, but the vehicles collided and went down an embankment off the side of the highway, according to the officer. The SUV overturned and crashed into a tree.
Four of the Toyota’s seven occupants died at the scene: a boy of about 9, a girl of about 17, a 40-year-old woman and a 75-year-old woman, according to Bettencourt. The 19-year-old woman thought to be the driver and two other women were hospitalized with moderate to major injuries.
Bettencourt said the victims were all believed to be residents of the Loma Linda area.
The Sonic’s driver was placed under arrest on suspicion of vehicular manslaughter following the collision and was taken in for further questioning. Bettencourt said it was not immediately known whether drugs or alcohol were factors in the crash.
— City News Service
