Wrong-way DUI driver who fled country awaiting trial pleads guilty

SAN DIEGO (CNS) – An Escondido musician who disappeared while awaiting trial for a wrong-way freeway crash that seriously injured another motorist pleaded guilty Thursday to felony DUI causing injury and other charges.

Daniel Castro, 34, was captured in late April in Ensenada, Mexico, and brought back to San Diego.

Shortly before 2 a.m. on May 22, 2013, Castro was driving a Toyota Sequoia north in the southbound lanes of Interstate 5 near Balboa Park when he crashed head-on into a Ford Fusion.

The crash left the 28-year-old Fusion driver with serious injuries, including the loss of her left arm, according to the California Highway Patrol.

As part of his plea, Castro admitted having two prior DUI convictions and admitted he jumped bail in the case, Deputy District Attorney Jerry Gonzales.

Castro, keyboard player in a band called Long Live Logos, faces up to nine years and eight months when he is sentenced Sept. 19, according to the prosecutor.