Driver in Fatal Accident Had Illegal Blood-Alcohol Level, CHP Says
The blood-alcohol level of a Ventura County woman was twice the amount needed to categorize her as legally drunk when she was involved in an accident that killed three young men and injured two others, the California Highway Patrol said Thursday.
Diane Helen Mannes, 34, of Somis had a blood-alcohol reading of 0.20%, said CHP Officer Lisa Sowell. In California, a person with a level of 0.10% is considered legally drunk.
The results were released sooner than usual because the CHP and the Ventura County district attorney’s office requested that Mannes’ blood test be given top priority, Sowell said.
Mannes was arrested on suspicion of drunk driving Friday night after her car hit five pedestrians whose car had a flat tire on the Ventura Freeway near Camarillo. The men were returning to Camarillo after picking up a friend in Thousand Oaks, authorities said.
The previous day, Mannes was arrested in the San Fernando Valley for driving with a blood-alcohol content of 0.26%, the CHP said. She was released on her own recognizance after eight hours in custody.
Mannes was released from a Thousand Oaks hospital on Monday and is at Simi Valley Adventist Hospital on the advice of a psychiatrist, Sowell said.
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