A Watsonville man has been arrested on suspicion of causing a head-on DUI crash Sunday night near Salinas that left one man dead and five others hurt.
Miguel Soto Garcia, 29, was charged with felony DUI causing bodily injury, driving with a .08 alcohol level or above and murder.
He was booked into Monterey County Jail in lieu of $1 million bail, jail records showed.
California Highway Patrol officer Saul Perez said Garcia was driving a red pickup just before 8pm when he collided head-on with a silver Nissan SUV carrying five people on Old Stage Road just north of Natividad Road.
The driver of the Nissan, a 47-year-old from Salinas, was pronounced dead at the scene, Perez said.
The five other occupants suffered moderate to major injuries, while Garcia came away with minor injuries. The ages of those inside the Nissan ranged from 10 to 42. One of them was flown by air ambulance to a San Jose trauma center.
Perez said Garcia was arrested at the scene and booked into Monterey County Jail.
While the investigation into the DUI crash is ongoing, the Monterey County District Attorney will finalize the charges.
Sad, we don’t need to drink and drive because you cannot take it back because death ☠️ is not reversible.