Merced man identified as victim in deadly suspected DUI crash. Driver arrested.

A man killed Sunday in a suspected drunken-driving crash outside Delhi has been identified as a 45-year-old Merced man.

The Merced County Coroner’s Office identified the victim as Thomas Gonzalez of Merced.

The suspected driver in the crash, 41-year-old Kevin Mitchell Hernandez, was booked into the Merced County Jail on suspicion of vehicular manslaughter and drunken driving causing death, both felonies, the California Highway Patrol confirmed Monday.

CHP investigators identified Hernandez as the driver of a 2006 Nissan Titan that slammed into a guardrail around 4:30 p.m. on the Golden State Boulevard overpass near Delhi. The car flipped over, off the bridge, and landed on its roof on Highway 99, Officer Eric Zuniga said Monday.

Two other men suffered major injuries and were flown to a Modesto hospital for treatment. They were identified by the CHP as Jeremy Santos, 40, of Atwater, and Mike Rivera, 43, of Merced. Updates on their conditions were not immediately available Monday.

Hernandez suffered a broken wrist and was treated at a regional hospital before he was booked into the Merced County Jail. He remained in custody Monday with bail set at more than $226,000, according to booking records.

Jail records also show Hernandez was arrested in 2014 on suspicion of felony drug possession.

This story was originally published November 20, 2017 at 9:38 AM with the headline "Merced man identified as victim in deadly suspected DUI crash. Driver arrested.."