WILLARD — A 30-year-old man was charged Monday for drinking and driving without a license, leading to a fatal head-on collision a mile south of Willard in October, court documents show.
Angel Eduardo Valadez Lozano, who lives out of state but works in northern Utah, was arrested at his house in Willard on Thursday, according to a police booking affidavit. He is now facing one charge of automobile homicide, a second-degree felony; negligently operating a vehicle resulting in injury, a class A misdemeanor; having an open container on the highway, a class C misdemeanor; and two infractions — failing to stay in a lane and driving without a license.
Valadez had been driving north with a passenger in a Nissan Sentra on state Route 89 just before midnight on Oct. 11, according to Utah Highway Patrol Lt. Cameron Roden.
“Concerned citizens called dispatch to report that (Valadez) was having trouble maintaining his lane,” charging documents say. Those concerns became a reality when the Nissan left its lane and crashed head-on with a Hyundai Santa Fe in a continuous left-turn lane, according to Roden.
He said Valadez was “extricated from the sedan while unconscious” and had hip and shoulder injuries, according to the booking report, but his passenger, 34-year-old Willard resident Carlos Diaz Perez, was killed.
The driver of the Hyundai was taken to the hospital with minor injuries, the affidavit says. Police say they later found “multiple open containers” in Valadez’s car.
A blood draw four hours after the crash returned 0.07% alcohol by volume, still higher than the 0.05% legal limit, charging documents say. Valadez has never obtained a valid driver’s license, the affidavit says.
He was booked into the Box Elder County Jail, where he is being held without bail and is scheduled for an initial appearance in 1st District Court on Dec. 2.
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