Accused drunk driver flees, leaving badly injured passenger to die

John McCarthyPosted oninBreaking News, Crime News, National News, Police News

LOS ANGELES — A 33-year-old woman died after being abandoned by an accused drunk driver following a solo crash,

California police reported. Emergency crews responding to the crash at 8:20 p.m. Friday, February 21, tried to save Rachel Martin of Rialto but she died at the scene, police said in a Saturday, February 22, news release.

The driver of the white 2021 Ford Mustang ran away after crashing into several trees, leaving the badly injured Martin, his passenger, to die, police said.

Officers later arrested Joshua Cardenas, 28, of Rialto, on a charge of gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated, police said. He’s being held on $100,000 bail.

Police said Cardenas drove through an intersection at 85 mph before hitting the trees.

Investigators ask anyone with information on the fatal crash to call traffic Sgt. Dan Smith at 909-644-6025. Rialto is about a 55-mile drive east from Los Angeles.

By DON SWEENEY/Miami Herald

John McCarthy

John F. McCarthy is a veteran journalist in the Caribbean, writing from the "Decision Space" where survival meets the surreal. His reporting steel was tempered by a lineage of legendary editors and broadcasters, including Ed Wynn Brant (The Bomb), Owen Eschenroder (Ann Arbor News), Lynelle Emanuel (BVI Beacon), and Charles Thanas (WSVI-TV). Alongside longtime colleague Kenneth C. "Casey" Clark, McCarthy has navigated the front lines of the territory’s history—from the 1997 volcanic "snow" to every major hurricane since Hugo. Known for leaning out of doorless helicopters to capture the "money shot," McCarthy now edits the V.I. Free Press, providing the essential link between the island's colonial past and its SpaceX future.