CHP Asks That 2 Drivers in Fatal Crash Be Charged

The California Highway Patrol has recommended the filing of criminal charges against two drivers involved in a fiery crash on Interstate 5 in Del Mar earlier this month that caused two deaths and left 13 injured.

CHP Officer Robert Gustin said Wednesday that he recommended that charges be filed against the drivers, both of whom allegedly left the scene of the crash.

Gustin declined to specify what charges were recommended, but he said the allegations could include felony hit-and-run and vehicular manslaughter. The San Diego County district attorney’s office will determine whether to file charges once it reviews the report and other evidence, said Linda Miller, a spokeswoman.

Neither driver has been arrested. Both presented themselves to authorities, Gustin said. The CHP has said that there was no evidence of alcohol involvement in the crash.

The accident occurred Sept. 7, when a tractor-trailer that the CHP says was traveling at 70 m.p.h. or more hit from behind a slow-moving van that was transporting more than a dozen passengers to the Los Angeles area. An explosion ensued. One woman died at the scene and another succumbed to her injuries.

Meanwhile, Gustin said, authorities had found no physical evidence to substantiate a report that an infant may have been aboard the van. The report has been discounted, Gustin said.

All but three of those injured have recovered.

Still hospitalized in fair condition Wednesday at UC San Diego Medical Center were Alex Ayala, 27; Jose Cabrera, 22, and Arturo Paredes Jimenez, 25, whose addresses were not available. All suffered extensive burns.

The driver of the tractor-trailer has been identified as Juan Rodriguez, 53, of Tecate, Mexico.

The identity of the van’s driver was not available.