Driver to Face 8 Murder Counts in Fatal Crash

Murder charges will be filed against an alleged drunk driver when he is arraigned today in connection with a fiery freeway car crash on Father’s Day that killed eight members of an extended family, authorities said late Tuesday.

The authorities said they have information that the accused driver, Teodolo Gallardo Bermudes, had been drinking at a bar before the crash and, according to initial analysis, had a blood alcohol level “perhaps double” the 0.08% legal standard.

Other than the accused man, the only survivors of the crash were Jose Rodriguez, 39, and his wife, Mercedes Diaz de Rodriguez, 40, and one of their five children, 6-year-old Faviola. The couple were recovering from their injuries and their daughter was listed in critical condition Tuesday with third-degree burns over 48% of her body.

The girl underwent skin grafting Tuesday afternoon at the burn unit of San Bernardino County Medical Center.

Killed in the crash were Mercedes Diaz’s four other children, three grandchildren and the father of two of those grandchildren, according to the Riverside County coroner’s office.

The 11 were packed inside a slow-moving Plymouth sedan driven by Jose Rodriguez that was rear-ended Sunday night on California 60 as they were approaching their Beaumont home. The vehicle was struck from behind by a pickup truck driven by Bermudes, 35, the California Highway Patrol said.

Bermudes fled the scene but was tracked down by three witnesses to the crash and arrested by the CHP on suspicion of felony drunk driving.

Riverside County Deputy Dist. Atty. Creg Datig said Tuesday that Bermudes would be charged with eight counts of second-degree murder, three counts of felony driving under the influence, felony hit-and-run driving and a misdemeanor count of driving on a suspended license.

He is being held in lieu of $250,000 bail.

Datig said Bermudes, of Cathedral City, had been arrested three times previously for driving under the influence of alcohol, including twice last year. He was on probation for drunk driving and had attended classes on the dangers of drinking and driving.

“He showed conscious disregard for the danger he was causing other people, despite his previous convictions and classes, and fled from the scene of the crash,” Datig said.

None of the occupants of the sedan were wearing seat belts when their car was struck, CHP spokesman Bob Nickel said. The car spun out of control, overturned and exploded into flames, drenched in its own gasoline because of a capless gas tank.

Despite the conditions that worsened the tragedy--the overcrowded vehicle, the lack of a gas cap and the lack of seat belt use--Datig said contributory negligence on the part of the victims is not a defense in criminal cases.

Datig said he would not file separate charges against Rodriguez for the unsafe operating conditions “because the family already has been penalized as severely as I can imagine.”

Killed in the crash were Diaz’s four other children--Omar Rodriguez, 4; Jairo Rodriguez, 9; Fidela Morguita, 12, and Mayra Rodriguez, 19.

Also killed were Mayra Rodriguez’s three children: Swleima Zamora, 3; Carina Madrigal, 2, and Antonia Madrigal, 2 months.

The eighth victim was Antonio Madrigal, 21, who was Mayra Rodriguez’s boyfriend and the father of two of her children.

Nickel said the Rodriguez vehicle was traveling about 45 m.p.h. in the freeway’s slow lane when it was hit by the pickup truck.