Felony charges are being sought against a young man who flipped his SUV while allegedly trying to flee a hit-and-run crash east of Moreno Valley while under the influence of marijuana, killing a 17-year-old passenger and injuring another friend, the California Highway Patrol reported Wednesday.
Jose Angel Perez, 18, of Lomita was arrested on suspicion of hit-and-run resulting in death after the rollover wreck Monday on Gilman Springs Road. He’s being held in lieu of $75,000 bail at the Smith Correctional Facility in Banning.
Perez was hospitalized following the crash, and he was only booked into the jail Wednesday afternoon.
According to CHP Officer Matt Napier, investigators from the San Gorgonio Office have submitted a request to the Riverside County District Attorney’s Office for the filing of charges of gross vehicular manslaughter, reckless driving and driving under the influence of drugs against Perez.
D.A.’s office spokesman John Hall did not immediately know the status of the submission or whether a criminal complaint was pending.
According to Napier, Perez was at the wheel of a 1999 Chevrolet Tahoe going westbound through the Badlands on the Moreno Valley (60) Freeway when he was involved in a fender-bender about 11 a.m. Monday.
Napier alleged that the suspect fled the collision, heading south onto Gilman Springs with 17-year-old Catalina Raquel Esteves of Calimesa and 18-year-old Christopher Sanchez of Fontana in the SUV.
“Preliminary investigation indicates that … Perez made an unsafe turning movement onto the dirt shoulder on the right side of the roadway, just east of Kevin Road,” the officer alleged. “Perez corrected back onto the roadway but was unable to maintain control of the vehicle. The vehicle then rolled over several times.”
Both passengers were ejected from the Tahoe.
Esteves died at Riverside University Medical Center in Moreno Valley an hour after the crash, and Sanchez was hospitalized with moderate injuries, according to Napier, who said Perez suffered minor injuries.
He alleged that toxicology tests showed the suspect was under the influence of marijuana.
Perez has no documented prior felony convictions in Riverside County.