An 18-year-old Glen Ellen driver was being held Sunday in Sonoma County Jail, accused of vehicular manslaughter with gross negligence after one of his passengers was killed in a Saturday night rollover crash on Highway 116 near Schellville.
The CHP did not release the name of the 18-year-old Sonoma woman who was ejected from the vehicle and died at the scene, pending notification of relatives. She was not wearing a seatbelt, Napa CHP Sgt. Elfido Montez said.
The driver, Juan De Dios Gonzalez Canche, was accused of the vehicular manslaughter charge, a felony, along with misdemeanor driving without a license. Two teen-age male passengers suffered major injuries, and a third received minor injuries, Montez reported.
The teens had attended a quincea?ra, a celebration of a girl?s 15th birthday, in Sonoma and were heading to another party in the Sonoma Valley when the solo crash occurred, CHP said.
Witness reports and evidence at the scene of the 9:30 p.m. crash indicated that Gonzalez Canche was making unsafe passing movements and lost control of the 1996 Honda Accord just east of Arnold Drive on Highway 116, CHP said.
After driving at a high rate of speed, Gonzalez Canche told investigators he had swerved to avoid an oncoming car while attempting to pass another, CHP said.
Roberto Salazar, 16, suffered major injuries to his upper chest, pelvis, bladder and head, and 17-year-old Oscar Zarate?s injuries were to his head and pelvis, CHP said. The Sonoma teens were taken by ground ambulance to Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital.
A fourth passenger, 17-year-old Carlos Gomez, suffered minor injuries and was flown by CHP helicopter to Queen of the Valley Medical Center in Napa.
No alcohol or drugs are suspected in the crash.
?He was driving way over his abilities,? Montez said.
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