The pickup truck driver involved in a multi-vehicle crash in Miami that took the life of an elderly man and injured two other people on Friday was arrested, police said.
According to arrest documents obtained by CBS News Miami, 32-year-old Jesus Andres Villalobos was charged with vehicular homicide and driving without a license in the three-vehicle crash that killed 79-year-old Eduardo Marquez and left two other people hospitalized on Friday morning.
While appearing in court on Saturday, the judge found probable cause and ordered a $7,500 bond for his vehicular homicide charge and a $2,500 bond for his driving without a license charge.
A 3-vehicle crash kills a 79-year-old man, sends 2 others to the hospital
Just before 4:15 a.m., City of Miami Police responded to a fatal crash involving multiple vehicles at the intersection of Northwest 7th Street and 31st Avenue.
According to the preliminary investigation, a white Ford F-250 — driven by Villalobos, who had a male passenger — and a Nissan Sentra were traveling westbound on 7th Street when the pickup truck sideswiped the sedan, making him lose control and veer off the road and into the lot of a nearby car dealership.
Following the initial collision, Villalobos’ F-250 crossed into the eastbound lanes and struck a white Crown Victoria — driven by Marquez — head-on. Miami Fire Rescue took Marquez to the Ryder Trauma Center at Jackson Memorial Hospital in serious condition, where he died from his injuries, Miami Police said.
Meanwhile, the Sentra’s driver suffered several broken bones, and Villalobos’ passenger had also sustained injuries.
When investigators arrived at the scene, Villalobos was sitting uncuffed inside a marked Miami Police vehicle. As the investigators approached him and opened his door, they immediately smelled “a strong odor of alcohol emitting” from Villalobos, who also had bloodshot eyes, the arrest documents said.
When asked for his driver’s license, Villalobos told investigators that he “did not have one and never had one issued to him,” the arrest documents continued.
Investigators then asked whether Villalobos was willing to provide a voluntary blood sample for DUI analysis, to which he agreed. The two blood draws were taken an hour apart from each other by Miami Fire Rescue. According to the arrest documents, a DAVID query of Villalobos’ information came back negative, indicating that he was never issued a driver’s license.
“Based on the totality of the circumstances and the on-scene investigation, [Villalobos] was subsequently arrested,” the arrest documents said.
