HALLORAN SPRINGS, CA. (Pain In The Pass) >> A Victorville man suspected of driving drunk and causing a deadly crash outside the town of Baker that killed a 39 year-old man on Interstate 15.
Johnathan Pryor, a 31 year old male from Victorville was on probation for a separate DUI charge at the time of his alleged crime, according to court records. Pryor was arrested on Saturday March 26, 2022, after the collision on Interstate 15 that killed Raul Negrete Gontes a 39-year-old man from Compton.
California Highway Patrol officers booked Pryor into the county jail on suspicion of gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated and DUI causing bodily injury. He was scheduled for an appearance in court on Tuesday, but it was unclear whether the hearing happened at the time of the article.
Pryor was released Saturday afternoon. He was being held in jail in lieu of $250,000 bail, according to the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department. At the time of the crash, court records show Pryor was serving misdemeanor probation after pleading no contest to a DUI charge back in August 2021.
The CHP responded to the crash at about 3:30am Saturday morning. Pryor was driving a Dodge Charger at a high rate of speed. He hit the back of Gontes’ Chevrolet Tahoe, which began to overturn multiple times and went across the center median. Despite life-saving rescue measures, firefighter officials said the Gontes’ was pronounced deceased at the scene
CHP officers were talking with Pryor, “who exhibited objective signs/symptoms of alcohol impairment,” authorities said. The officer performed a DUI evaluation test and arrested Pryor. CHP officials said alcohol was suspected to be a “contributing factor” in the crash and California Highway Patrol Barstow Office are still investigating the collision.
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