Police: Winton man crashed into 3 cars while driving drunk

A Winton man suffered injuries after he allegedly crashed into three parked cars while driving under the influence of alcohol, the Atwater Police Department reported.

Brian K. Porter, 43, was arrested just after midnight Sunday on suspicion of drunken driving. He was taken to Mercy Medical Center in Merced to treat a head injury he suffered in one of the crashes, Lt. Samuel Joseph told the Sun-Star.

An update on Porter’s condition was not available. He was not listed as a Merced County jail inmate as of Monday afternoon.

Officers were investigating an unrelated call around 12:18 a.m. Sunday when they spotted Porter running through the 1000 block of Kelso Street. He was being chased by another man, according to police.

The man chasing Porter, whose name was not released, told police he was running after Porter to help identify him as a suspect to officers. One of the vehicles struck belonged to the man’s mother, officers said.

“Upon further investigation, it was found that Porter had struck three parked vehicles,” Joseph said.

Police said Porter’s vehicle struck the cars before crashing into a fence. One of the cars, a white BMW, was “pushed several hundred feet up the street,” police said.

The makes and models of the other cars involved could not immediately be confirmed Monday. Investigators were still working to determine a damage estimate, but said “at least several thousand due to the number of vehicles involved.”

Porter has been cited by police twice since September 2015 for being drunk in public, according to Merced County jail records.

This story was originally published March 7, 2016 at 3:50 PM with the headline "Police: Winton man crashed into 3 cars while driving drunk."