Photo: Stock Image
It was only ninety minutes into Christmas Day when the life of 60-year-old City of Guadalupe resident Gregorio Dominguez was abruptly snuffed out.
According to Santa Barbara County Deputy District Attorney Tyson McCoy, it was 1:30 a.m. on December 25 th when 27-year-old Santa Maria resident Bladimir Agustin Chavez, driving eastbound on Highway 166 “veered over the double yellow lines” and slammed head-on into Dominguez’s Infinity sedan. Emergency personnel and CHP officers responded to the scene, where Dominguez was pronounced dead.
The immediately ensuing investigation indicated that Chavez, in addition to driving on the wrong side of the road with “11 empty Modelo beer bottles in his vehicle,” did not have a driver’s license. A field sobriety test was conducted by the CHP officers on the scene some 30 minutes following the crash. That test indicated Chavez was operating his Toyota Camry with a blood alcohol level of 0.15%, “nearly twice the legal limit of 0.08%.”
Chavez was taken into custody and arrested at the scene. He was then transported to Santa Barbara County Jail, where he was charged with gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated, driving under the influence of alcohol causing injury, driving with a blood alcohol content above 0.08%, and being an unlicensed driver with special allegations for causing great bodily injury.
Chavez remains in custody with his bail set at $250,000.
