Charges: Driver's BAC was 3 times the legal limit after crash that killed Pizza Lucé driver Aaron Zach
MINNEAPOLIS -- Authorities allege a driver arrested after a fatal crash in south Minneapolis Saturday had a blood alcohol level more than three times the legal limit.
Julio Alvarado, 24, is charged with two counts of criminal vehicular homicide, according to court documents filed in Hennepin County Wednesday.
The crash occurred at West 50th Street and Lyndale Avenue South and killed 42-year-old Aaron Zach, a longtime delivery driver for Pizza Lucé who was working at the time of the crash.
According to a criminal complaint, Minneapolis police officers responded to the crash just before 1 a.m. Saturday, finding two vehicles -- a Ford F-150 and a Mazda CX-30.
The Mazda, which was Zach's vehicle, "looked as if it was caved in from a forceful impact," and Alvarado's Ford "sustained significant damage to the front end of the vehicle and the engine compartment was compressed in half," the complaint states.
Witnesses at the scene identified Alvarado as the driver of the Ford, and said he "appeared to be drunk," according to the complaint. One witness estimated he was going 50 to 60 mph on Lyndale before the crash.
Alvarado failed three field sobriety tests, the complaint states, and said he had "at least a Long Island iced tea" and "a little bit to drink." A breath test put his BAC at .268, more than three times the legal limit of .08.
Alvarado is in custody.
Remembering Aaron Zach
Zach worked at the Uptown Pizza Lucé location for more than 15 years, and his coworkers are devastated by his death.
"You don't think about a pizza delivery guy as someone that's putting their life on the life, but this is someone's that's going out on the streets and bringing food to you so you don't have go out," said general manager Alex Ekland.
It is a tragedy so tough that the Uptown store closed Saturday just to take a pause and process.
"Spent a long day here with…a lot of friends, lot of former co-workers, a lot of current co-workers," Ekland said. "[Zach] considered a lot of these drivers here like brothers."
Pizza Lucé says his legacy will live on. Zach's picture is on the cover of the pizza chain's delivery driver manual.
