Driver in Fatal Crash Was Legally Drunk

An 18-year-old Oxnard High School senior was legally drunk at the time of a fatal head-on collision last month that killed him and a Camarillo woman, authorities said Friday.

A toxicology report indicates that Raymond M. Hughes, a varsity basketball player, had a blood-alcohol level of 0.08 at the time of the May 7 crash, said California Highway Patrol Officer George Orozco.

There is no legally allowable alcohol limit for drivers under 21, Orozco said. The legal limit for drivers 21 and older is 0.08, he added.

“We didn’t suspect that at all,” Orozco said of the report. School athletic officials said Hughes didn’t drink, and at the time of the crash, Hughes was driving to his job at a Camarillo sporting goods store.

Police learned through interviews with other students that Hughes had attended several “ditch day” parties earlier that day where alcohol was served.

Hughes and Melissa J. Cauvel, 27, died when their cars collided in the late afternoon on Pleasant Valley Road near Camarillo Airport.

Hughes, who was heading east, crossed into westbound lanes and smashed head-on into Cauvel’s car, investigators said. Hughes and Cauvel were killed instantly.

Excessive speed was also a factor in the crash, investigators said.

Investigators said after the crash that Cauvel had been Hughes’ driving instructor at a local driving school.