A 33-year-old man pleaded guilty Thursday to a drunken driving crash that killed four people five years ago in Santa Ana.
Vincent Michael Calvo pleaded guilty to four counts of second-degree murder. He was scheduled to be sentenced April 9.
According to the criminal complaint, Calvo’s blood-alcohol level was measured at .29 — more than three times the legal limit.
Killed in the Feb. 17, 2019, two-vehicle collision were 31-year-old Jose Alberto Avila-Rosas — the driver of the other vehicle — and his passengers, 23-year-old Zimoara Zaragoza of Garden Grove, 23-year-old Antonio Alonso Santibanez of Orange and 34-year-old Prisma Yuliana Montoya of Santa Ana.
Calvo was behind the wheel of a Jeep that was westbound on Fourth Street when it collided with a southbound Chevrolet Silverado pickup truck at Tustin Avenue, police said. Investigators said he failed to stop for a red light at the intersection.
Both vehicles in the collision flipped over multiple times, police said.
Calvo got out of the Jeep at the same time an off-duty firefighter and his wife, who is a nurse, stopped to try to help the victims, who were trapped in the pickup truck which caught fire, police said. All four were pronounced dead at the scene.
The firefighter was able to put out the flames and his wife rendered aid to Calvo, who was the lone occupant of the Jeep.
Police said Calvo, who appeared to be “extremely impaired,” was taken to an local hospital, where he was treated and released into police custody.