Driver in wrong-way crash that killed 3 in Fountain Hills taken from hospital to jail

PHOENIX – The driver who allegedly caused a head-on crash that claimed three lives over the weekend in Fountain Hills was released from the hospital and arrested Wednesday, authorities said.

According to court documents, 41-year-old Manuel Serrano-Orduno had been drinking prior to Sunday morning’s head-on collision on State Route 87, aka the Beeline Highway, near Shea Boulevard.

“Serrano stated he had consumed 8-10 beers while at Sycamore Creek the night before,” the probable cause statement for his arrests says.

The arrest document says he fell asleep from around midnight to 12:30 a.m. and then started driving home to Mesa at 4 a.m.

What do court documents say about fatal Fountain Hills crash?

The head-on collision between Serrano-Orduno’s Chevrolet Avalanche pickup truck and a Ford F-150 with four occupants occurred around 4:15 a.m.

Evidence at the scene and dash camera footage provided by a witness indicated that Serrano-Orduno crossed the center line and caused the crash, according to the arrest document.

The driver of the Ford was hospitalized with life-threatening injuries, and the three passengers were pronounced dead at the scene.

The victims were all from Mesa, according to the Arizona Department of Public Safety: 25-year-old Victor Perez Coralles, 42-year-old Emilia Rodriquez and 26-year-old Jesus Guadalupe Nunez-Rodriquez.

Serrano-Orduno had to be extricated from the driver’s seat of his truck by fire personnel.

“Troopers on scene suspected impairment on Serrano which included open containers of alcoholic beverages (beer) in his vehicle as well as being the driver of the wrong way vehicle,” the arrest document says.

After he was released from the hospital on Wednesday afternoon, DPS detectives booked Serrano-Orduno into jail on three counts of second-degree murder, two counts of endangerment and one count of aggravated assault. His bond was set at $600,000.

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