Roseville man arrested after suspected DUI crash kills 1 on Highway 99 in Sacramento

A man was killed in a suspected DUI crash early Saturday morning in south Sacramento, according to the California Highway Patrol.

In a news release, the CHP’s South Sacramento Office said that officers were called to a three-vehicle crash on northbound Highway 99 south of Florin Road around 1:50 a.m.

Dispatchers told the responding officers that a white Chevrolet Silverado was hit by a Honda Odyssey, and a Nissan Murano crashed nearby shortly afterward. Dispatchers also notified them that a person was in the roadway.

CHP investigators believe that the driver of the Silverado, a 19-year-old Roseville man, was headed northbound on the highway and driving fast in the slow lane when he approached slower traffic ahead of him.

He swerved right, off the highway, to avoid crashing into the cars ahead of him, drove through a chain-link fence, hit a sign and swerved left back onto the highway, authorities said. The driver continued to turn left and hit a concrete divider after driving through all four lanes of northbound traffic. A passenger in the vehicle was ejected by the impact.

The Silverado, disabled by the crash, could not power any of its lights. A Honda Odyssey in the fast lane, driven by a 31-year-old Sacramento man, crashed head-on into the Silverado. The Odyssey’s driver was killed by the impact, according to the CHP.

Moments after this crash, a Nissan Murano crashed into the center divide in an attempt to avoid the other two cars, but hit the passenger who had been ejected from the Silverado, CHP said.

First responders rushed the passenger to a hospital with life-threatening injuries. The driver of the Silverado suffered moderate injuries and was also taken to a hospital. Officers visited him in the hospital and, after evaluating him, suspected that he had been driving under the influence of alcohol, CHP said. He was arrested on suspicion of felony DUI and gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated.

“Once again, another tragic incident caused by an impaired driver has occurred. What makes this worse is that the suspected impaired driver was underage and by law should not have been impaired to begin with,” CHP South Sacramento officials said in a prepared statement. “Please do not furnish alcohol to individuals under the age of 21, it is against the law and you may be held responsible if they are involved in an incident that leads to somebody being injured or killed.”

This story was originally published May 16, 2021 at 12:57 PM.