Tuesday, July 11, 2017

Drunk driver Nemias Garcia-Velasco, 32, is being charged with motor vehicle homicide after Silvano Torres, 58, was riding unrestrained in the cargo area of the van and was declared dead at the fiery scene.




OMAHA, NEBRASKA

The driver in a fiery crash that killed a man on Wednesday is being charged with motor vehicle homicide and may have been driving while drunk, a Douglas County press release said Monday.

Douglas County Attorney Don Kleine has charged Nemias Garcia-Velasco, 32, who had blood-alcohol content of 0.24 when he was taken to the hospital following the crash, the release said.

On Wednesday at the Interstate 80/680 junction, Garcia-Velasco was driving a 2001 Dodge Ram work van when it hit a guardrail and rolled. The van then caught fire, according to the Fire Department.

Silvano Torres, 58, was riding unrestrained in the cargo area of the van and was declared dead at the scene. Front-seat passenger Jesus I. Gonzalez, 16, was treated at the hospital and released the day of the crash. Garcia-Velasco was taken to the Nebraska Medical Center with severe burns to his legs and face.

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The driver of a work van that was involved in a fatal crash last week at the Interstate 80/680 interchange was drunk, police said.

Nemias Garcia-Velasco, 32, was released from the hospital Saturday and booked into jail on suspicion of motor vehicle homicide, reckless driving and not having an operator’s license.

Silvano Torres, 58, died about 1 p.m. Wednesday when the speeding van drove from the Interstate ramp, hit and vaulted over a guardrail, rolled and caught fire, police said.

Torres was riding unrestrained in the rear cargo area of the 2001 Dodge Ram van, police said.

Front-seat passenger Jesus I. Gonzalez, 16, was treated at a hospital and released the day of the crash.

Torres, who lived in Omaha, was declared dead at the scene.

Garcia-Velasco suffered severe burns to his legs and had been receiving treatment at a hospital. He is believed to have been ejected from the van, authorities said.