Head-on crash kills two near Reedley. Driver arrested for manslaughter, felony DUI

A Dinuba man was arrested Sunday night, suspected of DUI in a two-car, head-on crash that killed two people and injured two others.

The collision happened around 6:15 p.m. on Road 56 just north of Avenue 430 near Reedley. According to the California Highway Patrol, the man, identified as 43-year-old Blake Thomas Benham, drifted into oncoming traffic and collided head-on with another vehicle.

Two of the passengers in that car were killed. They have yet to be identified.

The driver and another passenger were taken to Community Regional Medical Center with major injuries.

All four were from Reedley, according to the CHP.

Benham was evaluated at the scene and was determined to have been driving under the influence of alcohol at the time of the crash, CHP said. He was booked into Tulare County’s pre-trial facility on suspicion of felony DUI and vehicular manslaughter.