DUI Suspect Killed In Three-Vehicle Wreck near Columbia

A suspected DUI driver was killed in a three vehicle wreck on Highway 49 Thursday afternoon.

Reports had indicated the possibly intoxicated driver had left downtown Sonora in a silver Ford pickup, headed for Columbia, according to officer Tom Wills with the California Highway Patrol.

“The reported DUI driver was the one that actually caused this accident and swerved into the oncoming lane. He was the one that died,” Wills explained Thursday.

Apparently, when the fast-driving man came up on slow-moving traffic in front of him on the highway, he took the wrong evasive action.

“He swerved to his left, and sideswiped a Honda, which pushed the Honda off the edge of the roadway, and then struck the Jeep Grand Cherokee head-on, which had two people on board,” said Wills.

Those victims in the vehicles that were hit suffered minor injuries, but all had their seat belts on.

The names of the injury victims and the precise nature of the injuries was not available Thursday.

At least one person had to be extricated from one of the vehicles as well.

There´s no word yet on the identity of the driver who was killed, or whether or not he had his seat belt on at the time of the incident.