JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The driver of a pick-up truck that plowed into a Honda Fit on Thursday night while going the wrong way at an Arlington intersection is facing DUI manslaughter charges in the deadly crash, the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office said.
Three family members in the Honda Fit were killed and a fourth was critically injured in the crash at the intersection of Merrill and Hartsfield Roads, police said.
Orlando Lopez Vazquez, 40, who police say was driving the F-250 that slammed into the Fit, was booked into the Duval County Jail just after 4 a.m. Friday. He is charged with three counts of DUI manslaughter, two counts of DUI with property damage and serious bodily injury and DUI.
According to the arrest report, Vazquez was still behind the wheel of his truck when officers arrived. The report said when he got out of the vehicle, he was swaying, his eyes were bloodshot red, his speech was slurred and smelled of alcohol.
He also told police he was on the way home from a construction job estimate but didn’t remember the crash, according to the report.
Lopez Vazquez was ordered to be held without bond during his first appearance in court Friday afternoon. Prosecutors requested no bond because they said Lopez Vazquez has a prior DUI arrest. News4JAX found court records showing he pleaded guilty to DUI in 2020 and was sentenced to six months of probation.
The arrest report for the 2020 crash said he was driving the same F-250 erratically on Beach Boulevard, drove over a curb and was pulled over by the Florida Highway Patrol.
Lopez Vazquez, who was provided an interpreter for the first appearance, will be back in court Sept. 14 for his arraignment.
According to the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office, the family was headed west at about 35 mph on Merrill Road in the Honda Fit around 9:40 p.m. Thursday.
Witnesses told police that the F-250, which was going south in the northbound lanes of Hartsfield Road, blew through the red light at the Merrill Road intersection at 100 mph and T-boned the much smaller Honda Fit. The collision drove both cars into the woodline south of Merrill Road, where Hartsfield Road ends.
The posted speed limit on Hartsfield Road is 30 mph, police said.
JSO said Vazquez told investigators he had a tooth removed and was on painkillers but hadn’t taken them. He said he only had a half of beer for the pain.
Police said a blood sample was taken at
Everyone in the Fit was wearing a seat belt, according to the crash report.
The right front female passenger and left rear female passenger died at the scene. The driver and the right rear passenger were taken to Memorial Hospital, where the male passenger died. The male driver had life-threatening injuries, police said.
Police did not release the ages of anyone in the Honda Fit.
Video from the scene of the crash showed Lopez Vazquez being treated by Jacksonville Fire and Rescue paramedics at the scene after being taken into custody.