Two people died early Saturday after a woman reportedly caused a multi-vehicle crash while drunk on south Interstate 5 near Carlsbad, a California Highway Patrol official said.
The collision was reported about 3:50 a.m. north of Palomar Airport Road.
Investigators said a 28-year-old woman was headed south in a gray Hyundai when, for unknown reasons, she crashed her vehicle into a Jeep Grand Cherokee, causing the Jeep to overturn, CHP Officer Hunter Gerber said in a news release. A Nissan Altima traveling in the high-occupancy vehicle lane then struck the overturned Jeep.
A female passenger in the Jeep from Richmond, California, died before she could be taken to a hospital, Gerber said. The Jeep’s driver, a Richmond man, was gravely injured and later died at a hospital. The driver of the Nissan was also taken to a hospital, but his injuries weren’t considered life-threatening.
The driver of the Hyundai was not injured, Gerber said. She was later arrested on suspicion of felony DUI and gross vehicular manslaughter and was booked into Vista jail.
Anyone with information about the crash was asked to call the Oceanside-area CHP office at (760) 643-3400.
