Suspect Drank Heavily Before Fatal Daly City Crash, DA Says
DALY CITY (CBS SF) -- A 28-year-old Sunnyvale man who allegedly caused a crash that killed three members of a Daly City family on Saturday night had been drinking at a pizza parlor for several hours earlier that day, a prosecutor said Tuesday.
San Mateo County prosecutors allege that Denis Pereirade Macedo spent as many as five hours drinking beer with friends at a Daly City restaurant before getting behind the wheel around 8 p.m., Assistant District Attorney Al Serrato said.
Shortly thereafter, Macedo allegedly rear-ended another vehicle at a stop sign on Eastmoor Avenue and then drove around the vehicle to flee the scene, Serrato said.
As he drove west on Eastmoor Avenue, Macedo allegedly reached speeds of up to 60 mph, Serrato said.
Within seconds, Macedo broadsided the driver's side of a car that was pulling away from the right curb to make a U-turn.
Three people in the car—Josefa Osorio Acevedo, 50, and her sons Amado Osorio Acevedo, 23, and Josue Osorio, 15, -- died at the scene, according to Daly City police.
Another woman in the car was seriously injured and taken to a hospital, police said.
She remains hospitalized in stable condition, according to the district attorney's office.
Macedo, who was not injured, was arrested at the scene.
A blood test taken two hours after the crash measured Macedo's blood-alcohol level at .18 percent, more than twice the legal limit, Serrato said.
Wearing orange jail clothes and speaking through a Spanish interpreter, Macedo appeared briefly Tuesday afternoon in San Mateo County Superior Court.
He has been charged with three counts of gross vehicular manslaughter while driving under the influence, felony DUI causing great bodily injury, and misdemeanor hit-and-run, Assistant District Attorney Al Serrato said.
Macedo, who is Brazilian and a native Portuguese speaker, informed the court in broken sentences that he could not understand the proceedings in Spanish or English.
Judge Kathleen McKenna postponed his arraignment hearing until Thursday, when a Portuguese interpreter would be present.
Macedo has a prior DUI conviction in Santa Clara County from 2011, Serrato said.
He is scheduled to be back in San Mateo County Superior Court on Thursday at 1:30 p.m.
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