CAMARILLO : Blood-Alcohol Level in Fatal Crash 0.02%

The driver believed responsible for a fatal crash near Camarillo on Sunday that killed three people and his unborn twin daughters did not have an illegal level of alcohol in his blood, a CHP spokeswoman said Wednesday.

A test on Martin Torres Mata, 25, of San Fernando showed a blood-alcohol level of 0.02%, well below the state standard of 0.08% that determines intoxication, said CHP Officer Staci Morse.

But Morse pointed out that blood-alcohol level alone is not considered the only determinant of whether someone is intoxicated.

In an interview with investigators after the accident, Mata said he was trying to pick up a beer can from the floor of his car when he veered across the center line of Santa Clara Avenue north of Central Avenue, Morse said.

“He reached for a spilled beer can that his wife was too pregnant to bend down and pick up,” Morse said.

She said it was unclear from Mata’s statement whose can of beer he tried to retrieve.

Mata’s car struck a van driven by Theodore Burk of Ventura. Ruthie Burk, Theodore Burk’s wife, died Monday at Ventura County Medical Center from multiple injuries. Another of Burk’s passengers, Rafael Castillo of Moorpark, survived, as did Theodore Burk.

Maria Mata, 23, who was eight months pregnant with twins, died in the collision, as did the Matas’ 1-year-old daughter, Beronica.

Mata was questioned Tuesday at St. John’s Regional Medical Center, Morse said. An investigation is continuing, she said.