Man Sentenced In Double Fatal DUI Crash Charged In New DUI Case

ESCONDIDO, CA — A man who was sentenced to a state prison term for a 2018 Escondido DUI crash that killed two 19-year-olds was booked into county jail Thursday in a new North County DUI case.

Francisco Andres Alvarez, 31, pleaded guilty to charges of gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated and DUI causing injury for the March 25, 2018, crash that killed Brandon Contreras and Ana Lira. Prosecutors said alcohol, marijuana and cocaine were in Alvarez's system at the time of the crash.

He was sentenced last year to nearly eight years in state prison, but a judge ruled that he could remain out of custody until an appeals process was completed before serving his term. That appeal remains ongoing, according to the San Diego County District Attorney's Office.

County jail records indicate Alvarez was booked into custody Thursday on two misdemeanor DUI counts. He pleaded not guilty to felony DUI charges Thursday morning in Vista Superior Court.

According to a criminal complaint, Alvarez is accused of driving under the influence of alcohol on July 6. The DUI counts contain allegations of driving with prior gross vehicular manslaughter convictions.

He was being held on $175,000 bail as of late Thursday afternoon and will have to wear an alcohol-monitoring device if he bails out.

In the 2018 fatality case, the victims were in a Mustang that was broadsided at the intersection of Ash Street and El Norte Parkway by Alvarez's Dodge Charger at around 11:30 p.m.

Police say Alvarez ran a red light at El Norte and struck the Mustang, killing Contreras and Lira, as well as seriously injuring an underage boy who was riding in the victims' vehicle.

— City News Service