San Clemente : Wrong-Way Driver Is Held on Drunk Charge
A wrong-way driver on Interstate 5 in San Clemente was arrested early Thursday for driving under the influence of alcohol--and so was the operator of another vehicle that he hit head-on.
California Highway Patrolman Brian Dean said James E. Prahm Jr., 23, of San Clemente was southbound when he drove up the off-ramp at Camino de Estrella, made a U-turn at the top and went back down the ramp so that he was headed north in the southbound lanes.
There, his car collided head-on with a van driven by Gordon Keith Jones Jr., 32, of San Clemente.
Dean said Prahm was taken to Mission Community Hospital with serious head and body injuries, including a collapsed lung. He was placed under arrest at the hospital for felony drunk driving, according to CHP spokesman Ken Daily.
Jones was transported to San Clemente General Hospital with moderate injuries and was arrested for misdemeanor drunk driving, Daily said.
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