On Monday, December 12th, 2022, at 3:48 pm, the Turlock Police Department, Turlock Fire Department, and American Medical Response were dispatched to a reported vehicle collision with injuries at the intersection of E Monte Vista Ave and Colorado Ave, Turlock.

When crews arrived on scene, they found two vehicles involved. The first one was a Lincoln SUV and the second one was a Honda minivan.

At least five people were involved, but possibly a sixth. One of the people involved suffered minor injuries and refused to be transported to the hospital, while neither of the others suffered any injuries.

Officers began speaking with the driver of one of the vehicles, Antonio Benito, 42, of Mexico, and noticed that he was exhibiting objective symptoms of being under the influence, so they asked him if he would be willing to participate in standardized field sobriety tests. Benito agreed and completed the test.

Based on the totality of the circumstances, officers ultimately determined that Benito was under the influence of alcohol.

Benito was arrested and transported to a local hospital to be medically cleared.

Afterwards, he was booked into the Stanislaus County Public Safety Center on charges of driving under the influence of alcohol causing injury and driving with a blood alcohol content of .08 or greater, as well as two warrants. The first one was a $2,500 misdemeanor bench warrant for driving under the influence of alcohol and driving with a blood alcohol content of .08 or greater, and the second one was a no-bail one out of the United States Marshals Service.

It’s currently unknown how the collision occurred.