Los Banos woman accused of driving intoxicated, causing two crashes, says CHP

LOS BANOS -- A Los Banos woman was arrested early Sunday after allegedly driving the wrong way while intoxicated on northbound Highway 101 between Paso Robles and Atascadero, causing two separate accidents and multiple injuries.

Just after 2 a.m. Sunday, the California Highway Patrol received several calls of a wrong-way driver swerving while traveling southbound on the northbound side of Highway 101 near 24th Street in Paso Robles.

Delia Ortiz, 27, of Los Banos continued to drive the wrong way for several miles despite warnings from a CHP vehicle. The CHP car used its emergency lights, siren, spotlights and public address system while driving parallel to her in the southbound lanes beginning near the San Anselmo exit of Highway 101 in Atascadero.

South of Highway 41, two cars collided while attempting to avoid Ortiz's 2007 Dodge Nitro. About a minute later, a Chevrolet Tahoe overturned when the driver attempted to avoid Ortiz’s vehicle, causing minor injuries to three occupants and moderate injuries to another.

With the assistance of the San Luis Obispo County Sheriff's Office, the CHP was able to stop Ortiz’s vehicle in the median north of Santa Barbara Road. Ortiz was uninjured and arrested on suspicion of felony wrong-way driving and felony driving under the influence of alcohol causing injuries, and she was booked into San Luis Obispo County Jail.

-- San Luis Obispo Tribune