Berkeley PD: DUI driver arrested after vehicular manslaughter
The victim has been identified as a 69-year-old man who may have been from Carmichael (outside Sacramento).
Update, 2:20 p.m. Police have arrested the driver in a DUI crash that appears to have killed a 69-year-old man in or near his tent in a Berkeley park early Wednesday morning, authorities report.
Miguel Davila-Huizar. BPD
BPD arrested 40-year-old Miguel Davila-Huizar on suspicion of gross vehicular manslaughter, driving without a valid license and DUI causing bodily injury.
The victim has been identified as a 69-year-old man who may have been from Carmichael (outside Sacramento).
Authorities found him pinned under the vehicle at the crash scene, where he was declared deceased.
BPD said it would be up to the coroner's office to determine whether the victim died due to the crash or because of some other reason.
Davila-Huizar is being held at Berkeley Jail with a $140,000 bail, according to online records. He is scheduled for arraignment Friday morning.
The investigation is ongoing.
Original story: Berkeley police are investigating a DUI collision that may have resulted in the death of a person in or near a tent in South Aquatic Park on Wednesday, authorities say.
Details were slim as of publication time due to the ongoing investigation, BPD said.
Officers were called to South Aquatic Park at about 4:30 a.m. for a report of a person who had been pinned under a vehicle, Berkeley police said.
Arriving police and firefighters found a person deceased under a vehicle that was parked near a roundabout in the area.
Authorities said they have not confirmed that the person was alive at the time of the collision or determined their official cause of death — which will be up to the coroner.
Read more about traffic safety in Berkeley.
Police did say there was a sleeping bag in the area of the crash and that the driver ran over a tent nearby.
"We know that there was a tent there. We know that there was a sleeping bag there," said Officer Byron White, a BPD spokesman. "But we don't know if the person was inside the tent."
White said police have not determined the gender of the deceased person or any other information about them.
The Alameda County coroner's office said the person's identity remains unknown as of Wednesday morning.
Police did arrest the driver, a 40-year-old man with no address, on suspicion of driving under the influence.
"Those charges could change as the investigation continues," Officer White said.
The driver's name was not available pending booking.
BPD's Fatal Accident Investigation Team is handling the case, White said.
The entrance to South Aquatic Park was closed for several hours during the investigation.
