Carlsbad Man Fatally Injured in Crash
A 24-year-old Carlsbad man was fatally injured early Saturday when the car in which he was riding went out of control on Interstate 5 near Manchester Avenue and hit the center divider, the California Highway Patrol said.
The dead man was identified by the county coroner’s office as Byron Keith Wellnitz, a draftsman who lived in the 300 block of Juniper Avenue.
He was a passenger in a car driven by Salvador Ramirez, 23, of Vista. Ramirez was driving north on I-5 just south of Manchester Avenue about 5:40 a.m. when the car drifted onto a dirt embankment, crossed over all the northbound lanes and hit the divider, the CHP said.
Wellnitz was taken to Scripps Memorial Hospital in La Jolla, where he died at 11:55 a.m.
Ramirez, who suffered minor injuries, was arrested on suspicion of felony drunken driving and vehicular manslaughter, the CHP said. He was taken to County Jail in Vista.
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