A 45-year-old Santa Ana man was arrested Wednesday on suspicion of drunken driving in a fatal hit-and-run collision.
Israel Gutierres Zamora was booked on suspicion of vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated and felony hit and run, according to Santa Ana police Cpl. Anthony Bertagna.
Zamora was allegedly driving a 2006 Mercedes-Benz E350 about 2 a.m., Feb. 8, when he crashed into a 1999 Ford Mustang coupe, driven by the victim, 61-year-old Mitchell Paul Viturino, who was pronounced dead at the scene, Bertagna said.
Viturino was driving to work eastbound on First Street, passing Bristol Street when his car was broadsided on the driver’s side by the Mercedes-Benz, which was southbound on Bristol, Bertagna said.
Zamora allegedly lied to investigators, claiming he was not the driver, Bertagna said.
“He tried to run away but he didn’t get too far away,” because he had a “severe injury to his leg,” Bertagna said.
When police took him to a hospital his blood-alcohol level was twice the legal limit, Bertagna alleged. Another man in the Mercedes-Benz was also injured and taken to a hospital to be treated for injuries he survived, Bertagna said.
–City News Service