SALT LAKE CITY — Police have identified and arrested the driver who they say caused a fatal crash on Interstate 15 early Saturday morning.
READ: Newly married woman hit, killed by wrong-way driver on I-15
Manaure Gonzalez-Rea, 36, was booked on suspicion of:
- Automobile homicide with criminal negligence and driving under the influence (2nd-degree felony)
- Theft (2nd-degree felony)
- Failure to remain at an accident involving death (3rd-degree felony)
- Driving under the influence (Class-A misdemeanor)
- Reckless driving (Class-B misdemeanor)
According to Utah Highway Patrol, Gonzalez-Rea was driving south in the northbound I-15 collector lanes near 2000 South when his Toyota Tacoma pickup truck hit a Toyota Corolla sedan head-on.
The crash claimed the life of 26-year-old Angelica Gabrielle Jimenez Dhondup, who was on her way home from her own wedding reception.
Gonzalez-Rea's truck flipped and landed on its roof after the crash. A witness stopped to help him and a passenger out of the vehicle. Gonzalez-Rea then stole that person's vehicle and fled the scene, but he was stopped by a UHP trooper a few miles away near the I-80 off-ramp at Redwood Road. He was taken into custody without further incident.
The arresting officer said Gonzalez-Rea had a clear odor of alcohol on his breath, and he admitted to drinking three beers right before the crash. The officer also reports observing multiple other signs of alcohol impairment.
A breathalyzer test came back positive for alcohol, according to court documents, and Gonzalez-Rea also submitted to a blood draw.
A photo from the scene also appears to show multiple cases and dozens of cans of beer strewn across the road after the crash.
Gonzalez-Rea is being held in the Salt Lake County Jail without bail.
A GoFundMe campaign has been set up to help Dhondup's family.
