SANTA ANA — A 20-year-old San Juan Capistrano man was charged today with killing one friend and hurting another in a drunken driving crash early Saturday.

Rigoberto Mendozamora was charged with gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated and faces a sentencing enhancement for causing bodily injury to an additional victim. Prosecutors will ask for $150,000 bail. Arraignment is expected later today.

Mendozamora was speeding in his Honda on Pacific Coast Highway in Dana Point about 2:45 a.m. Saturday when he lost control and slammed the car into a tree near Street of the Green Lantern, Deputy District Attorney Jason Baez said.

Mendozamora appeared drunk after the accident, Baez said. The results of a blood-alcohol test was unavailable.

Mendozamora’s friend Jesus Avalos-Munguia, 24, who was in the car when it crashed, died at the scene, Baez said. Mendozamora’s other friend in the car, Daniel Higuera, 24, was rushed to the hospital to be treated for cuts to his face and body, neck pain and other injuries, Baez said.

Mendozamora could face up to 11 years in state prison if he is convicted. He was being held on $100,000 bail.

This story was written and edited by The City News Service.

Tags: DUI, Pacific Coast Highway, San Juan Capistrano

This entry was posted on Tuesday, March 9th, 2010 at 3:56 pm and is filed under Courts-Crime, Homicide-Blog . You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.