Man Pleads Guilty To DUI Gross Vehicular Manslaughter

ESCONDIDO, CA — A young man who was under the legal drinking age when he drove unlicensed and drunk, causing a head-on crash in Escondido last fall that killed an 85-year-old man, pleaded guilty Tuesday to gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated and other charges.

Celso Solano Rojas faces more than 10 years in state prison when he is sentenced next month for the Sept. 25 crash that caused Richard Woolsey's death.

Rojas' blood-alcohol content was measured at 0.24% -- three times the legal limit -- Deputy District Attorney David Uyar said last year at Rojas' arraignment.

Rojas, who was 20 at the time of the crash, tried to pass traffic on Centre City Parkway about 8 p.m. and crashed head-on into Woolsey's vehicle, according to the prosecutor.

The victim was taken to a hospital, where he died two days after the crash. Rojas was also injured in the crash and hospitalized.

In addition to the manslaughter count, Rojas pleaded guilty to three counts of DUI causing injury, all involving the same victim, as well as a misdemeanor of driving without a license and an infraction for driving with a measurable blood-alcohol content while under age 21.

— City News Service