Modesto man arrested for deadly DUI crash

A Modesto man wanted for more than nine months in the death of a 63-year-old man was arrested Tuesday.

Jesus Garcia, 23, is charged with felony vehicular manslaughter for the June 7, 2015 crash that killed his passenger Isabel Rico.

Rico was a passenger in a Ford Escape that Garcia was driving. Garcia is suspected of driving under the influence, for an incident where he allegedly crashed on Highway 4 just west of the Stanislaus/Calaveras County line.

The Ford drifted off the roadway, traveled 500 feet down an embankment and overturned multiple times, according to California Highway Patrol Officer Chuck Leon.

Rico died at the scene. Another passenger who was in the back seat, Jose Fernando Tello Prado, 35, was also injured.

Garcia was hospitalized with head and neck trauma, so he was cited and released.

The District Attorney’s Office in December filed charges against Garcia. He is accused of vehicular manslaughter and driving under the influence of alcohol causing injury. He was arrested on a warrant for the charges early Tuesday morning when he was pulled over by a Stanislaus County Sheriff’s deputy for a traffic violation.

Garcia his being held in lieu of $100,000 bail. He was arraigned Wednesday and will return to court next week.

This story was originally published October 5, 2016 at 4:45 PM with the headline "Modesto man arrested for deadly DUI crash."