Man dies, son hurt while alleged DUI driver accused of causing crash turns up at a Fresno home
A Sanger man was killed and his young son hurt in a crash at a Fresno intersection, as police continued Monday to investigate the other driver on suspicion of DUI, running a stop sign and leaving the scene before being found outside a nearby home.
The crash happened about 6 a.m. Sunday at Church and Sunnyside avenues, according to the Fresno Police Department.
The accident was triggered, Lt. Rob Beckwith said, when the driver of a BMW going south on Sunnyside failed to stop for the posted stop sign at Church Avenue. The BMW broadsided the driver’s side of a Chevy truck headed east on Church.
Officers saw the BMW had crashed into a residential brick wall near the southeast corner of the intersection. No one was found in the car, which had heavy front-end damage.
The Chevy, with heavy damage to the driver’s side, came to a stop in the northbound lanes of Sunnyside. Inside were a man and young boy.
The man was rushed to Community Regional Medical Center, where he died. He was identified Monday as Daniel Barrera, 34, of Sanger. The child, who is 8 and the man’s son, was taken to the hospital with what were said to be non-life threatening injuries.
As officers continued to work the collision scene, a call came in of a man banging on the door of a nearby house.
Police went there, Beckwith said, found the man, and determined he was the driver of the BMW and appeared to be heavily intoxicated. He was identified as Miguel Angel Escamilla, 24, of Fresno.
Officers arrested him on suspicion of multiple felonies, including DUI while causing death or injury, hit and run and gross vehicular manslaughter, Beckwith said. He also is accused of being an unlicensed driver.
Escamilla was booked into the Fresno County Jail.
