A preliminary hearing has been set next month for a Washington man charged with killing his two traveling companions in a single vehicle DUI crash on Interstate 5 in 2019.
Edward Kenneth Perez, 32, a FedEx truck driver, was arrested on a Colusa County warrant in Port Townsend, Wash. in April, while making his deliveries.
Perez has been wanted for manslaughter in connection to the collision for two years.
According to the California Highway Patrol, Perez was reportedly driving under the influence and speeding on May 12, 2019, when he lost control of the 2002 Chevrolet Tahoe he was driving, which caused the vehicle to roll over multiple times before coming to rest on I-5, blocking one lane of freeway traffic.
The collision occurred as Perez was driving southbound, just south of Maxwell, around 10:50 PM. His passengers, Clayton Lloyd Charles, 35, and Crystal Leann Grall, 33, also of Washington, were ejected from the SUV and pronounced dead at the scene. They were not wearing seat belts at the time of the crash, the CHP said.
Perez was reportedly taken to the hospital with injuries, but never appeared in court as directed after the Colusa County District Attorneys charged him with two counts of gross vehicular manslaughter while under the influence and one special allegation of bodily injury to more than one person on June 20, 2019.
Judge Jeffrey A. Thompson issued an arrest warrant for Perez after he failed to show up to a court appearance on the three felony charges, officials said.
Perez is scheduled to appear in Colusa County Superior Court on July 8 for his preliminary hearing. He is represented by Matt Bentley, a Chico private attorney, who specializes in criminal DUI cases.
Perez has previous convictions in Washington and has a history of not showing up, court records indicated.
He pleaded not guilty to the Colusa County manslaughter charges on May 24. –