DUI Suspected In Triple-Fatal Placer County Crash
PLACER COUNTY (CBS13) - A 17-year-old Meadow Vista teen was arrested on DUI charges and felony vehicular manslaughter Thursday night after the car he was driving lost control and smashed into a tree, killing three passengers, according to the CHP.
The teen was driving on Applegate Road north of Boole Road at 7:30 p.m. with four other passengers when he failed to negotiate a turn, veered off the road and hit a tree, the CHP said.
The driver's brother, Lukas Warren, 21, of Meadow Vista, Daniel Silverman, 31, from Meadow Vista and Christian Mayorga, 21, of Auburn were killed. A 17-year-old girl from Eugene, Ore., sustained moderate injuries. She was transported to Sutter Roseville Medical Center.
The driver was taken to Mercey San Juan Hospital where he was treated for minor injuries. He was then booked into the Placer County Juvenile Detention Center on charges of felony vehicular manslaughter and felony DUI.
Investigators say alcohol played a factor in the crash. Lack of seat belts was also a factor that contributed to the deaths of Silverman and Mayorga. Both were thrown from the vehicle from the back seats. Silverman died at the scene. Mayorga was air-lifted to Sutter Roseville Medical Center, where he died from his injuries.
Warren, in the front seat, was wearing a seat belt but died at the scene from blunt force trauma, the CHP said.
A woman who asked CBS13 not to identify her said she sometimes allowed Silverman, Warren and Warren's 17-year-old brother to stay at her home and that they sometimes drank there. She said all three had prior issues with alcohol and she thought it was safer for them to drink at her house rather than drink and drive.
She let Silverman borrow her car, a 1997 Subaru, Thursday night to pick up the Warren brothers and expected them to come back "to drink a few beers" but they never arrived.
