Thursday, Aug. 28, 2008
UPDATE: CHP identifies driver arrested after chase that ended in injury crash near Avila Beach
Santa Maria man suspected of driving under the influence, felony evading after Thursday chase that started in San Luis Obispo
Comments (0) | 
E-Mail
Print
tool name
closeFRIDAY NOON UPDATE: The driver arrested after a chase that began in San Luis Obispo and ended in an inuury head-on crash south of the city late Thursday has been identified as Luis T. Rios, 25, of Santa Maria.
He was arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence causing injury and felony evading of a peace officer, the California Highway Patrol reported this morning.
Rios was treated for minor injuries at Sierra Vista Regional Medical Center in San Luis Obispo before he was released for booking, according to the CHP.
He crashed a 1996 Ford Windstar van head-on into an 1998 Ford F-150 pickup at 8:43 p.m. Thursday at Ontario Road and Avila Beach Drive after a chase that started after a county sheriff’s deputy tried to pull him over along southbound Highway 101 at Madonna Road.
The driver of the pickup, Victor Villalpando, 22, of Shafter, near Bakersfield, was not injured, the CHP said.
His passenger, Christina E. Garza, 19, of Wasco, also near Bakersfield, was treated for moderate injuries at Arroyo Grande Community Hospital and then released.
Just after 8:30 p.m., callers to 911 had reported that the Windstar was driving wrecklessly south on the freeway north of Highway 58 near Santa Margarita, according to the CHP.
County probation officers saw the van on the freeway north of Monterey Street in San Luis Obispo and notified the CHP and the county Sheriff’s Department.
He got off the freeway at San Luis Bay Drive and then turned south onto Ontario Road, according to the CHP. Rios crashed his van while trying to turn eastbound onto Avila Beach Drive, the CHP reported.
A high-speed chase that began in San Luis Obispo late Thursday ended in a head-on crash at Avila Beach Drive and Ontario Road that sent three people to the hospital, according to radio dispatches and the CHP’s media Web site.
The driver of a silver Ford van that was being chased was arrested on suspicion of drunken driving and taken to Sierra Vista Regional Medical Center in San Luis Obispo, according to the Web site.
He was alone in the van, according to the site’s dispatch log. Two people in another vehicle were injured, according to radio dispatches from medics at the scene. But the extent of their injuries couldn’t be determined.
The van sideswiped a guardrail along southbound Highway 101 north of Marsh Street about 8:34 p.m. according to radio dispatches and the CHP media site.
It was traveling more than 100 mph at times, according to radio dispatches.
The van exited the freeway at San Luis Bay Drive and then turned south onto Ontario Road, according to the online dispatch log.
It then hit another vehicle — whose make and model were not reported — at Avila Beach Drive about 8:43 p.m., the CHP Web site reported.
No information has been made available on the conditions of the driver of the van and the others injured in the wreck.
@Nyx.CommentBody@