Crime

DA considering bedside arraignment in fatal wrong-way crash

By Ed Fletcher

efletcher@sacbee.com
A 1994 buick Regal is loaded into a tow truck after an accident that killed three people, at least two of them teenagers, early Saturday morning when a Roseville man driving the wrong way on Interstate 80 crashed head on into their car. The California Highway Patrol said drugs and alcohol were likely a factor in the 2:10 a.m. crash, though it remains under investigation and authorities are awaiting test results. In a press release, the CHP said Aaron Jordon Caudillo, 24, was driving a 2006 Chrysler 300 westbound near Madison Avenue, going the wrong way in the eastbound lane. He crashed into a 1994 Buick Regal driven by a 19-year-old male from Roseville. The driver of the Regal was killed, along with his two passengers, an 18-year-old female from Granite Bay and a male whose age was not dis
A 1994 buick Regal is loaded into a tow truck after an accident that killed three people, at least two of them teenagers, early Saturday morning when a Roseville man driving the wrong way on Interstate 80 crashed head on into their car. The California Highway Patrol said drugs and alcohol were likely a factor in the 2:10 a.m. crash, though it remains under investigation and authorities are awaiting test results. In a press release, the CHP said Aaron Jordon Caudillo, 24, was driving a 2006 Chrysler 300 westbound near Madison Avenue, going the wrong way in the eastbound lane. He crashed into a 1994 Buick Regal driven by a 19-year-old male from Roseville. The driver of the Regal was killed, along with his two passengers, an 18-year-old female from Granite Bay and a male whose age was not dis Courtesy of Robert Petersen

With the man believed to be the wrong-way driver responsible for the death of three Placer County young adults still hospitalized, the District Attorney’s Office is considering arraigning him before he’s ready to leave the facility.

Authorities believe an intoxicated Aaron Jordon Caudillo, 24, of Roseville was driving the wrong way on Interstate 80 in the early morning hours of Jan. 10 when his westbound 2006 Chrysler 300 collided with a 1994 Buick Regal headed east. The three people in the Regal, driver Matthew Azar, 20, Kendra Langham, 18, and Mathew Beardwitt, 18, were pronounced dead at the scene.

California Highway Patrol spokesman Chad Hertzell said an officer is monitoring him as he recuperates, but said neither he nor the hospital could offer more information on Caudillo’s recovery. Potential charges were not specified.

“We are looking at the possibility of arraigning him at his bedside, having a judge come up and his attorney and have everything done there. The district attorney is kicking that option around but no decision has been made yet,” Hertzell said.

The cars collided at 2:10 a.m. on eastbound Interstate 80 near the Madison Avenue exit.

Call The Bee’s Ed Fletcher, (916) 321-1269. Follow him on Twitter @NewsFletch.

This story was originally published January 21, 2015 at 2:14 PM.

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