Phoenix, AZ :Suspected drunk driver facing murder charge after deadly I-10 crash on Sunday, July 12th 2015
A man accused of drunk driving is facing charges of second-degree murder and endangerment after causing a fatal crash on eastbound Interstate 10 Sunday night.Police arrested Rabit Sergio Brenes Popoca, 41, within hours of the crash.Investigators said Popoca was behind the wheel of an SUV that rear-ended another car, forcing it into the back of a flatbed tow truck.The driver of that car, a 54-year-old man whose name has not been released, was pronounced dead at the scene.According to DPS spokesman Raul Garcia, the tow truck was stopped in the median eastbound along I-10 at 19th Avenue to pick up a rental car that had broken down earlier in the night.
Garcia said the tow truck driver was operating the hydraulic controls of the flatbed on the traffic side prior to the collision and was able to escape injury.Garcia said Popoca, who was born in Mexico but has permanent resident status, was traveling at a high rate of speed prior to the collision. The posted speed limit in the area is 65 mph.A trooper who responded to scene said Popoca had "blood shot [sic] watery eyes, a strong odor of an intoxicating beverage emitting from his breath, [and] was unsteady on his feet …."According to court paperwork, he admitted to investigators that he can consumed two 16-ounce beers during a soccer game at University of Phoenix Stadium earlier in the evening.A preliminary breath test on Popoca showed his blood alcohol concentration to be .247 percent. That's more than three times the legal definition of impaired, which is .08 percent.Commissioner Jane McLaughlin set a $100,000 bond for Popoca and scheduled a July 20 status conference and July 23 preliminary hearing.The woman who rented the vehicle was not involved in the collision. Garcia said the woman was involved in a DUI-related collision the day before and, consequently, had to rent that vehicle.
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Suspected drunk driver facing murder charge after deadly I-10 crash