Man, 36, suspected of DUI in fatal Indio crash charged with murder
A 36-year-old man suspected of driving under the influence and causing a fatal crash was charged today with felony charges including murder.
Alexander Frank Ortega was also charged with one felony count each of driving under the influence of alcohol causing bodily injury and driving under the influence of alcohol .08% or more causing bodily injury, according to court records. He additionally faces sentence-enhancing allegations of causing great bodily injury.
His arraignment date was pushed from Friday afternoon to Tuesday.
Officers responded at 9:45 p.m. Tuesday to a report of a traffic collision on Indio Springs Parkway east of Golf Center Parkway, Indio Police Department spokesman Ben Guitron told City News Service.
A white GMC pickup truck was traveling west on Indio Springs Parkway\ when it crossed lanes and went against traffic, Guitron said. The truck then struck a white Saturn Sudan, which was occupied by a man and a female passenger.
"When they collided it was a pretty serious accident,'' Guitron said. "The occupants of the Saturn had to be extracted by Indio Fire, Cal Fire and then they were transported by ambulance to the hospital."
The man succumbed to his injuries at John F. Kennedy Memorial Hospital in Indio and was pronounced dead at 10:25 p.m., according to the Riverside County coroner's office. He was identified as 53-year-old Martin Gutierrez of Indio.
It was not immediately known what level of injuries the passenger sustained.
Ortega was subsequently booked into the John J. Benoit Detention Center in Indio, where he remains held on $2 million bail, according to inmate records.
