Lil Ward cleans up debris from a fatal accident that occurred Tuesday night on Turner Road in Lodi. A car hit a tree in front of her granddaughter's house, sending debris across the lawn and breaking the rear passenger window of the Ford Focus. (Whitney Ramirez/News-Sentinel)

Passenger dies in Lodi car crash; alcohol may be a factor, say police

A high-speed car crash left a Lodi man dead on Tuesday night and his unlicensed roommate likely facing charges of driving under the influence of alcohol and vehicular manslaughter.

Manuel Hernandez, 37, was pronounced dead at the scene of the 10:53 p.m. crash on Turner Road.

The driver, Antonio Lucas Avellaneda, 24, of Lodi, was hospitalized with a cracked bone in his neck, according to police. By Wednesday afternoon he was listed in satisfactory condition at San Joaquin General Hospital. Police said he is expected tobe booked into the city jail by today.

Avellaneda had been the subject of a suspension by the State Department of Motor Vehicles on April 19 for excessive blood alcohol level, Lt. Bill Barry said. Further information on that case was not immediately available.

Avellaneda was driving east on Turner Road at speeds police initially estimated at 70 to 80 mph, as much as double the 40 mph speed limit on the four-lane road, Motor Officer Chris Kaufman said.

His green 1996 Pontiac Sunfire apparently drifted to the right, Avellaneda overcorrected and then veered over the sidewalk, colliding with a 1964 Ford Falcon van that was parked in a driveway. The car then wrapped around a tree in the next yard.

"I heard a thud and went outside," Steven Salustro said Wednesday morning as he and family members cleaned up piles of debris and tried to salvage their lawn. "I thought it was in the street, not in our front yard."

He said the first thing he noticed was a strong smell of alcohol, even when he was standing several yards from the crashed car.

Police found beer cans in the car and took some for evidence, but Salustro and family members found a few more Bud Light cans, including one that had since been flattened in the roadway.

Salustro's girlfriend of six years, Kelsey Blighton, had been sleeping in their bedroom when the crash woke her, and Salustro was soon telling her to dial 9-1-1.

Only later would police tell her that, had the wayward car not first collided with the van, it would have hit the house. Her bedroom was closest to the vehicle's path.

Blighton heard Avellaneda moaning and another neighbor tried to talk to the two men in the car. The passenger did not respond, was pronounced dead at the scene and later had to be cut out of the vehicle.

Officers remained at the scene for hours, eventually towing both the crashed car and the van, which had spun in a circle from the force of the crash.

They were still investigating the crash Wednesday and believed both men were wearing their seat belts, Kaufman said.

Both men lived in the same house on Lodi's Eastside, but police do not know if the men were heading home because Avellaneda said he didn't remember what happened, Kaufman said.

Avellaneda had spent the day picking cherries in an orchard. He had no driver's license, and his registration had been suspended because he did not have insurance, according to police.

Local court records show no criminal cases against Avellaneda.

By mid-morning Wednesday, blood was still visible at the crash scene. Blighton's grandparents drove in from Valley Springs to help pick up debris and mow the yard in an attempt to restore some order. Blighton and Salustro's 4-year-old son, Weston, was excited to find coins in the debris.

Nobody else was injured, but the Pontiac's windshield sailed across the front yard and struck the rear passenger window and door of Blighton's new Ford Focus.

Glass filled an infant car seat, which was prepared for the couple's new baby boy, who is scheduled to be born Friday.

Blighton said she already had a number of errands to run in the final two days before giving birth, and fixing a new car wasn't on the list. She'll also have to buy a new infant car seat, because cleaning it won't guarantee that all shards of glass will be removed.

She'd like to move away from the busy road where the couple have lived for more than three years. The speed is 40 mph, but Blighton said cars travel much faster — as if to prove her point, a Lodi police car at that moment pulled out of California Street with lights flashing, catching up to a speeding motorist.

And Salustro, who has always hated the huge tree in their front yard because it drops countless sticks, said he's now having second thoughts about the tree, which lost much of its bark in the crash but is still standing.

Contact reporter Layla Bohm at layla@lodinews.com.