The man suspected of driving while drunk head-on into a van of five people early Monday – killing three and critically injuring two others – had previously had his license suspended for DUI, state officials said Monday.

State Department of Motor Vehicles spokesman Armando Botello said Christopher Thomas Rigsby's license was suspended from July 2001 to July 2004 because of a DUI incident.

Rigsby, 41, of Redwood City, was driving a Honda CR-V eastbound on westbound Highway 50 about 12:45 a.m. Monday when it struck a Pontiac SUV head-on near Gold River, the California Highway Patrol reported.

Rigsby was hospitalized and arrested on suspicion of felony driving under the influence, said CHP spokesman Officer Jim Young.

"We do believe alcohol was the cause," Young said.

The force of the crash caused the Pontiac, a 2001 Aztec, to flip onto its roof and eject two women from the rear seat, killing them. A man who was a passenger in the front seat died inside the vehicle, Young said.

The Sacramento County Coroner's Office identified the man as Oliverio Lopez, 51, of Sacramento. The women were identified as Francisca Temblador Raymundo, 58, of Mexico, and Margarita Temblador de Lopez, 53, of Sacramento.

The driver of the SUV, Gustavo Sandoval-Gonzalez, 31, of Sacramento and a rear-seat passenger, Pedro Cornejo, 59, also of Sacramento, were reported in critical condition at area hospitals late Monday.

Young said Rigsby underwent surgery at UC Davis Medical Center for a broken elbow, and officers had not been able to interview him at length.

The crash left Rigsby, who was driving alone, trapped inside the 2007 Honda CR-V. He was freed by rescue workers, Young said.

Information on Rigsby's blood-alcohol level was not available, but Young said he showed signs of intoxication at the crash scene and after he arrived at the hospital.

Young said the Honda was registered to Rigsby's girlfriend, who told investigators that he had been in South Lake Tahoe on Sunday and had been at a casino between 3 and 4 p.m.

Initial calls to the CHP early Monday reported a wrong-way driver on Highway 50 at Sunrise Boulevard.

"Our officers started responding," Young said, "and the next call was that there was a head-on collision."

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Call The Bee's Cathy Locke, (916) 321-5287. Bee researcher Pete Basofin contributed to this report.

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