Man who was allegedly driving drunk in Fontana is arrested on $3 million homicide warrant | News

A man who was allegedly driving drunk when his vehicle was involved in a collision which killed two persons earlier this year in Fontana has been arrested, according to the Fontana Police Department.

The incident took place on April 7 at about 1:47 a.m., when a Honda Civic driven by 33-year-old Eddie Gomez was traveling north on Citrus and turned left onto Los Cedros in front of a 2021 Chevy Silverado traveling south on Citrus.

The collision killed two passengers who were in the vehicle with Gomez. Gomez was hospitalized and believed to be under the influence of an alcoholic beverage at the time of the crash, police said.

Fontana P.D. personnel conducted an extensive investigation over the last two months. Investigators presented the case to the San Bernardino County District Attorneys’ Office, which issued a $3 million homicide warrant. Gomez had a prior arrest and conviction for DUI.

On June 7, detectives with the Fugitive Apprehension Team located Gomez in the Ventura County city of Camarillo. He was taken into custody without incident and later booked at West Valley Detention Center.

“In today’s age of technology, there should be no excuse for not having a ride home,” the P.D. said in a Facebook post on June 22.  “One person was killed every 45 minutes in a drunk driving crash on our nation’s roads in 2020. That’s a total of 11,654 people who died in alcohol-impaired driving crashes in one year. Even a small amount of alcohol can affect driving ability. In 2020, there were 2,041 people killed in alcohol-related crashes where a driver had a BAC of .01 to .07.”

The P.D. provided these warnings for residents:

• Before drinking, choose a designated driver, or schedule a ride-sharing, ride-hailing, or taxi service.

• If you are hosting a party where there’s alcohol, offer non-alcoholic drink options and make sure all guests leave with a sober driver.

• Always wear your seat belt — it’s the best defense against drunk drivers.

• If you see a drunk driver on the road, safely pull over and call law enforcement.