Driver faces felony DUI charges after seven-vehicle crash on Highway 180 injures five

A driver faces a felony DUI charge after a multiple-vehicle crash on Highway 180 near Sanger left five people, including a young girl, with major injuries, the California Highway Patrol said Monday.

The collision took place shortly before 8 p.m. Sunday on 180 east of Temperance Avenue, said CHP spokesman Victor Taylor.

Taylor said the 19-year-old driver of a Honda, identified as Timothy Butler of Citrus Heights, is suspected of causing the chain-reaction crash when he sideswiped a truck while eastbound on 180.

He then careened into westbound traffic and collided with multiple vehicles. A total of seven vehicles were involved in the crash. The girl was rushed to Valley Children’s Hospital with brain injuries.

Taylor said a CHP officer trained as a drug recognition expert determined that Butler was under the influence of an unspecified drug. Toxicology tests will determine that the substance was.

Butler will be booked into jail when he is released from Community Regional Medical Center, Taylor said.

This story was originally published March 4, 2019 at 1:28 PM.