Suspected DUI crash in Solana Beach kills passenger, injures driver

SOLANA BEACH (CNS) – A suspected drunken driving crash early Friday on Interstate 5 in Solana Beach left a 41-year-old Delaware man dead and the 55-year-old driver injured and facing vehicular manslaughter charges.

Robert Mark Slusarenko of Long Beach was driving a 1998 Ford Explorer north on the freeway north of Lomas Santa Fe Drive shortly after 2 a.m., veered to the right and went up an embankment, California Highway Patrol Officer Jim Bettencourt said.

The SUV overturned and came to a stop in the right two lanes, authorities said.

Slusarenko’s passenger, whose name was not immediately available, died at the scene, Bettencourt said. Slusarenko was taken to Scripps Memorial Hospital La Jolla to be treated for moderate injuries.

Bettencourt said that once Slusarenko is released from the hospital, he will be booked into the Vista Detention Facility on suspicion of drunken driving and vehicular manslaughter.

Three of the northbound freeway lanes were temporarily closed in the area following the crash, but were later reopened.