Monterey County Man Gets 14 Years For Deadly 2017 Crash

MONTEREY COUNTY, CA -- A Salinas man has been sentenced to 14 years in prison for his involvement in a collision that killed a man in 2017, Monterey County District Attorney Dean Flippo announced last week.

Jaime Perez Garcia, 25, pleaded guilty to one count of vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated. Garcia received a five-year enhancement for hit-and-run causing death and a three-year enhancement for inflicting great bodily injury to an additional victim.

At approximately 2:30 a.m. on March 23, 2017, William Henry and Alyssa Castro were walking on Work Street in Salinas when Garcia, driving a Ford Bronco, drove onto the sidewalk and struck the two pedestrians,
prosecutors said.

After the collision, Garcia sped off and left the two victims injured on the ground.

Henry died a short time later, and Castro suffered a broken back, broken ribs, a lacerated liver and brain bleed.

The front bumper and the license plate from the Bronco broke off during the collision, and investigators were able to identify Garcia as the suspect. Garcia was located five hours later at his residence.

He was taken into custody, and his blood alcohol level was .10 at the time of his arrest. Prosecutors said his blood alcohol level at the time of the collision would have been around .20, more than twice the legal limit.

Garcia must serve 80 percent of his sentence, prosecutors said.

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