LA Driver Sentenced In Alcohol Fueled DUI Crash In Anaheim

ANAHEIM, CA — A 32-year-old Los Angeles man was sentenced Monday to six years in prison for an alcohol-fueled collision on the Santa Ana (5) Freeway in Anaheim that killed his passenger.

Johnathan Suarez pleaded guilty Nov. 20 to gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated, driving under the influence of alcohol causing injury and driving with a blood-alcohol level above the legal limit of .08.

Suarez was behind the wheel of a 2010 Toyota that slammed into a 2019 Freightliner box truck about 2:50 a.m. on March 13, 2019, on the 5 Freeway south of Euclid Street, according to the California Highway Patrol.

Suarez's passenger, 28-year-old Adan Aquino of Los Angeles, was pronounced dead at the scene.

His blood-alcohol level was .15, nearly twice the legal limit, at the time of the crash, according to the criminal complaint, which also alleged unsafe speed and distracted driving.

The truck driver escaped injury.