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Fatal Accident May Have Been Caused By Drunk Driver
posted (November 23, 2012)
A fatal accident on the Spanish Lookout Road last night killed one man and injured four others. Tonight police are saying a drunk driver may have been the cause.

Daniel Ortiz found out how a group of BNE workers in a small car could not escape from a fast approaching pick-up truck with a driver who appeared to be drunk:

Daniel Ortiz reporting
The extensive damage on these vehicles indicates the severity of the impact which claimed the life of 39 year-old Elvis Castellanos, a BNE employee of Spanish Lookout.

He was in the passenger side of the green Volks Wagon, which was being driven by 36 year-old Giovanni Valdez, his co-worker.

Also in the vehicle with them were 41 year-old Julio Castellanos, 25 year-old Viriato Matus, and 29 year-old Francisco Concha.

They had just left the BNE compound and while travelling on the Iguana Creek Road, when they slammed into the grey pickup.

Indications are that Valdez did all he could to avoid the accident.

Minor Castellanos - Brother of the Deceased
"What we heard about the accident is that there were leaving from BNE where he worked and about 5 minutes coming out of the compound - they were coming in a small car and another vehicle was coming swerving to them. When the driver noticed that the next vehicle was coming onto them they tried to escape that vehicle and there was another truck coming and that's where they collided. The impact happened on the passenger side where my brother was sitting. According to people who witness the accident, they say that the guy was under the influence of liquor."

All of the men were transported to the Western Regional Hospital, but Castellanos suffered major injuries from the passenger-side collision.

He succumbed to those injuries while undergoing treatment, but Valdez also received major injuries.

Jose Castellanos - Brother of Deceased
"He is in bad shape. He is at Karl Heusner Hospital. He got hit in the chest and last night he had problems breathing. For the others we do know, I think he is stable right now but he is in bad condition."

The driver of the pickup is 54 year-old Jose Orillana, and he also had 42 year-old Gilbert Gutierrez with him in the vehicle. Orillana is under police guard at the Western Regional Hospital, and Guiterrez is in detention at the San Ignacio Police Station.

Indications from police are that Guiterrez is being detained for his own safety because he was intoxicated.

While it won't bring back their loved-one, the Castellano family wants the authorities to be stricter with traffic monitoring.

Minor Castellanos
"The law needs to try get strict with drinking and driving because sometime what I notice is that the law is very loose because if the law notice that the person is a family member to a police officer, they will let him pass and get away with whatever damage they did. I believe that the law is supposed to tighten up a lot more due to these slackness that is happening on the highways."

As noted in the story, police are keeping a close eye on Jose Antonio Orellana who remains at the hospital. At this time, police have not issued Notice of Intended Prosecution against Orellana because the investigation is in its infancy.

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