Prosecutors have charged an East Millcreek man with automobile homicide, a second-degree felony, for allegedly causing a single-car accident that killed one man and injured another last week.
On May 8, Jose A. Renteria-Almanza, 21, was allegedly driving westbound on I-80 in Parleys Canyon just below Mountain Dell when he lost control of his car and rolled it down an embankment, charges filed Monday in 3rd District Court state.Victor Manuel Rodriguez-Renteria was ejected from the back seat and pronounced dead at the scene by medical personnel. A front-seat passenger was taken by medical helicopter to a local hospital with extensive injuries to his arm that will require multiple surgeries, the charges state.
The driver sustained minor cuts and abrasions and told police he was driving home from Park City when the accident occurred. A blood test showed the defendant's blood alcohol level was 0.10. The legal limit in Utah is 0.08.
An accident reconstruction indicated the car was traveling 15 mph over the speed limit when the wreck happened, court documents state.
Renteria-Almanza also was charged with causing a DUI injury accident, a third-degree felony.
He is being held in the Salt Lake County Jail on $150,000 cash-only bail because police believe he is a significant flight risk.