Santa Ana : Head-On Collision Kills Woman; Driver Held

A 22-year-old woman was killed in a head-on collision and the driver of the car in which she was riding was arrested on suspicion of felony drunk driving, police said Monday.

Guadalupe Moreno Nieves of Santa Ana was declared dead at the scene of the crash, which occurred at 9:50 p.m. Sunday at 300 S. Fairview St., officers said.

Jesus Cardenas--who was not carrying identification but whom police believe to be about 24 years old--was arrested after paramedics treated him for a minor cut to his right eye, police spokeswoman Maureen Thomas said.

Thomas said tests conducted at the police station confirmed that Cardenas was under the influence of alcohol. She said investigators will ask the district attorney’s office to file manslaughter charges against him.

Cardenas was traveling south on Fairview on the wrong side of the road when he collided head-on with a pickup truck driven by Thomas Harrison Helton, Thomas said. She said Helton, 29, of Costa Mesa, was admitted to Fountain Valley Regional Hospital with a fractured right knee and minor cuts to his forehead.

Cardenas was being held in Orange County Jail, where he was booked on suspicion of felony drunk driving, police said.