UPDATE -- Man charged in head-on I-84 crash that killed four

Friday, August 13, 2010

An arrest warrant has been issued for a Wendell man charging him with four counts of felony vehicular manslaughter following a head-on crash on I-84 Thursday evening near Glenns Ferry that killed four members of a California family.

Eusebio Jacobo Pineda, 45, had bond set at $250,000. He will be taken into custody by Idaho State Police and transported to the Elmore County Jail to await an initial appearance before a magistrate as soon as he is medically cleared to do so.

ISP officials said Pineda was driving a 2001 Ford F150 pickup eastbound in the westbound lanes of the interstate when he collided with Amado Herrera, 48, of South El Monte, Calif., who was driving a 2010 Mazda four-door sedan in the westbound fast lane.

The driver of this vehicle survived the crash.

Herrera and three family members died instantly upon impact. The three passengers killed were his wife, Luz Herrera, his 18-year-old daughter, Yvette Herrera, and his 10-year-old son, Antoni Herrera. They are survived by other family members in California. The family was going to the Nampa-Caldwell area to visit family.

Pineda's vehicle rolled after impact with Herrera's vehicle. He was transported by air ambulance to St. Alphonsus Regional Medical Center in Boise with non-life-threatening injuries.

ISP officials said alcohol is believed to be a contributing factor in the crash, however Pineda's blood alcohol content is pending final analysis.

The accident occurred at approximately 8:49 p.m. and blocked the westbound lanes of I-84 for approximately four hours. Traffic was diverted through Glenns Ferry to U.S. Highway 30 until the roadway could be cleared.

Herrera and his passengers were wearing their seatbelts at the time of the crash. It is unknown at this time whether Jacobo Pineda was wearing a seatbelt.

The reason Pineda was in the wrong lane on the interstate is unknown at this time. The crash is still under investigation by Idaho State Police.

Voluntary manslaughter carries a punishment of up to 15 years in prison and/or a $15,000 fine.

Elmore County deputies, EMS personnel and the Idaho Transportation Department assisted at the crash scene.

Comments

View 13 comments

Note: The nature of the Internet makes it impractical for our staff to review every comment. Please note that those who post comments on this website may do so using a screen name, which may or may not reflect a website user's actual name. Readers should be careful not to assign comments to real people who may have names similar to screen names. Refrain from obscenity in your comments, and to keep discussions civil, don't say anything in a way your grandmother would be ashamed to read.

May God be with all of the families. Such a tragedy. My heart and prayers go out to them all.

-- Posted by Mrs. Molly on Fri, Aug 13, 2010, at 9:03 AM
My prayers are with the family for their lose. May GOD be with them.

As for all that were there to help out and to clean up. Everybody was mentioned except the TRUCK DRIVERS. Do they not get recognition too for their part. They were on the scene first, blocked off traffic and called it in as well as assisting. I think its time truckers start getting credit where its due!

-- Posted by blueangel12156 on Fri, Aug 13, 2010, at 5:37 PM
This disgusts me to the core... a piece of human waste lives, while he wipes out an entire family, who by all means should have survived, wearing all their seatbelts. I agree with blueangel12156, my grandfahter and father were long haul drivers, and saved a few lives in all the years they drove, and never once were they given thanks for the actions they took. My heart felt sympathy goes to the rest of the surviving family, may they find some sollice in this period of their lives. And may the drunk rot in a hole below a cesspool.

-- Posted by scoutin on Sat, Aug 14, 2010, at 7:18 AM
Was the driver of the pickup an illegal alien?

-- Posted by AtomicDog on Sat, Aug 14, 2010, at 11:11 AM
I seen the cars that were involved in the accident when they came up to my job to get weighed...this wad a horrific accident and the relatives of the family of 4 will be in my thoughts every day. Just remember this is why you should never be behind the wheel of a vehicle when you have been drinking...

-- Posted by koolmiz_a on Sat, Aug 14, 2010, at 7:15 PM
This is to blueangel12156. I am just curious, what were you driving, because I witnessed the acceident, contacted 911, etc. If there were Semis, what did they look at? Was this the same wreck? I am not trying to be disrespectful. But There was no Semi truck AT the accident sight when it occurred. I am just trying to get facts straight, because this all went down very, very, quickly - the accident that is.

-- Posted by RockyMtn_T on Sun, Aug 15, 2010, at 4:47 AM
To the Herrera family, friends, and loved ones - May you find peace and solice. This also applies to Fire, EMS, Police, first responders, and the people that saw entire tragic event unfold as it happenend - as well as the those providing assistance after the accident.

-- Posted by RockyMtn_T on Sun, Aug 15, 2010, at 7:55 PM
Another tragedy with Alcohol. I wonder when the American people will wake up. Probably never. I guess we don't mind burying 4 more. Next week this entire incident will be forgotten except the the family that has been completely devasted by this person. I wonder where he was from? I wonder, I wonder? I guess there will be an investigation. Truck drivers are important to this process but they aren't the most important. I wonder when this individual will be out to do it all over again. Only the innocent die young.

-- Posted by supergramps on Mon, Aug 16, 2010, at 10:06 AM
I find it AMAZINGLY interesting that so much focus is placed on the alcohol aspect of this story, instead of the ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT aspect. Without a doubt people drink and drive and do cause accidents and/or kill people and that certainly is an issue. BUT STOP IGNORING THE ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION ISSUE!!! Where did this guy live? work? DRINK? SOMEONE knew he was an illegal. Wendell is not that big of a place!!! We keep turning the other way when they (ILLEGALS) are living right in our communities!! I believe 100% in LEGAL IMMIGRATION, I believe 1,000,000,000% in the IMMEDIATE DEPORTATION OF ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS - END OF SUBJECT. They have kids?? Ship their kids back with them or leave them here for an orphanage or foster care - I really don't care. THEY DID THAT TO THEM, NOT ANYONE ELSE!!! This is ridiculous!!!!

-- Posted by giveitarest on Tue, Aug 17, 2010, at 1:53 PM
This article has some information in it that I consider to be wrong. The first line of the article says he is a Wendell man. He is an illegal alien, therefore he isn't a Wendell man, he is a Mexican man, living in Wendell illegally.

To the Herrera family survivors, my thoughts and prayers are with you. I am so sorry for your loss.

-- Posted by taterjulz on Thu, Aug 19, 2010, at 10:08 AM
It's really sad that people are promoting hate, This man may be undocumented but it's not what made him cause the accident, Drunk driving is the problem here.

-- Posted by MGMH on Thu, Aug 19, 2010, at 9:22 PM
Why don't you people just go looking for the people selling the beer to the illegals!!! I don't think Hispanics have a treasure full of beer. They should make a sign at gas stations, grocery stores, and liquor stores; saying No alcohol sold to Hispanics because they are the only ones who kill people! There are many other races that are irresponsible. Why didn't the kids from Glenns Ferry get negative comments like this. Two were killed also but hey they are American NO WORRIES. Sorry that I had to bring them up. My PRAYERS to the Families

-- Posted by summer2011 on Fri, Aug 20, 2010, at 9:56 AM
cant justwatch-

YES..I beleive race has a big part to do with this, a few months ago the glenns ferry teens who were killed..i agree summer 2011..they were also drunk driving, they could have killed someone to? was there any outrage towards them? My prayers are with there families aswell but what they did was also wrong and i didnt see any negative comments or anything being done to STOP drunk driving. And yes i do believe this is HATE, toward undocumented people.

-- Posted by MGMH on Sat, Aug 21, 2010, at 3:07 PM

Respond to this story

Posting a comment requires free registration:

If you already have an account, follow this link to login
Otherwise, follow this link to register