California authorities arrested a FedEx truck driver who was making deliveries on Wednesday for two felony charges of vehicular manslaughter.
The suspect, 32-year-old Edward Kenneth Perez, was first seen in court on Thursday in Jefferson County Superior Court. He was on trial for a criminal charge of being a fugitive from justice.
Delayed Arrest
In June 2019, the suspect was charged in Colusa County Superior Court for gross vehicular manslaughter while under the influence after causing a deadly crash on Interstate 5 in Northern California.
Authorities said Perez was speeding south on I-5 when he swerved out of control, causing his 2002 Chevrolet Tahoe to roll over. The crash caused two passengers, 35-year-old Clayton Lloyd Charles and 33-year-old Crystal Leann Grall, to get thrown out of the car and died shortly after.
A Colusa superior court judge issued an arrest warrant for Perez after the suspect failed to show up to a court appearance on two felony charges. Later, Perez was reportedly found in the area on Wednesday and stopped by officials on Discovery Road.
When the deputy that stopped Perez said he was under arrest for vehicular manslaughter, he replied with, “That was two years ago.” Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Chris Ashcraft requested Perez’s bail to be set at $250,000.
According to Ashcraft, Perez had a history of crime in Washington, including three previous convictions; first-degree assault, second-degree robbery, and fourth-degree assault. He said the suspect also had an arrest warrant for his alleged connection with a failure to complete treatment as required with one of his Washington convictions, PTLeader reported.
Superior Court Judge Keith Harper agreed to Ashcraft’s request to set Perez’s bail at $250,000. “Given your felony history, and an outstanding warrant, that would be another reason to consider you a high risk to not show up,” said the judge.
