A 35-year-old Knights Landing man faces multiple felony charges for allegedly causing a five-vehicle wreck north of Woodland on Sunday night, the California Highway Patrol reported.
Officers Bryan Konvalin said Luis Juarez Bartolo was driving under the influence and without a license when he allowed his northbound GMC Safari to drift into the southbound lane and collide head-on with a Toyota Corolla shortly after 9 p.m.
Two vehicles following the Corolla and a third behind the GMC were unable to stop in time and also became part of the wreckage, which injured a total of six people, Konvalin said. The Corolla’s driver, 59-year-old Alicia Escobar of Yuba City, was flown by REACH helicopter to the UC Davis Medical Center in Sacramento with pain to her chest, back, arms and legs.
Four others also reported complaint-of-pain injuries, but only two were taken to hospitals.
Konvalin said Bartolo fled the crash scene on foot but was found by CHP officers a short distance away. He reportedly showed signs of intoxication and was taken into custody, but released to a Sacramento hospital for treatment of minor injuries.
The CHP will seek charges of felony DUI, felony hit and run causing injury and driving while unlicensed against Bartolo, Konvalin said.