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Auburn resident Jeffrey Sandow (inset) was charged with vehicular manslaughter after a boat accident that killed two people and injured two others on Englebright Lake. (Photos: CBS News)

A 54-year-old Auburn man who was under the influence of alcohol was arrested after a boat accident that killed two people Saturday night on Englebright Lake, about 65 miles north of Sacramento.

•   An intoxicated boater slammed his powerboat into the side of a family’s waterski boat on a popular Northern California lake.

•   A mother and daughter who were aboard the waterski boat were killed in the accident. The father, who was driving, was hospitalized with moderate injuries.

•   A passenger on the powerboat also was hospitalized with injuries. 

•   The drunk boater was not hurt but he was arrested on two vehicular manslaughter charges and booked into jail without bail.

The tragic accident occurred at around 6:30 p.m., according to a CBS News report.

According to the Yuba County Sheriff’s department, 42-year-old Paul Peterlin of Penn Valley was driving a waterski boat on the lake — with his wife Cynthia, 42, and their 12-year-old daughter aboard — when Jeffrey Sandow slammed into them with his powerboat.

The violent impact nearly cut the Peterlins’ boat in two, sheriff’s Lt. Damon Gil said told Channel 10 News. Cynthia Peterlin and her daughter both were killed. It took a dive team nearly an hour to recover their bodies from the lake.

Paul Peterlin suffered moderate injuries and was hospitalized, Gil said. A man who was aboard Sandow’s boat also was injured and hospitalized, but his identity was not released.

Investigators are still looking into what caused Sandow to crash into the Peterlins’ boat, but evidence showed that he was under the influence of alcohol when the collision occurred, Gil said. His blood alcohol level was not released, but Gil said the Auburn man was intoxicated.

Sandow was arrested on two counts of vehicular manslaughter with special circumstances. He was booked into a Yuba County jail, where he was being held without bail, Gil said.

Boating Under the Influence

Alcohol is the leading contributing factor in deaths caused by recreational boating accidents, according to the Coast Guard’s Recreational Boating Statistics 2011 report.

Laws against drunk driving also apply to drunk boating. The law, outlined in the Harbors and Navigation Code Section 655, states:

No person shall operate any vessel or manipulate water skis, an aquaplane, or a similar device while under the influence of an alcoholic beverage, any drug, or the combined influence of an alcoholic beverage and any drug.

Like drivers, boaters with a blood alcohol level of 0.08 percent or greater are considered to be intoxicated. In court, a blood alcohol level of 0.05 percent or greater can be considered “under the influence” if other evidence supports it.

Yuba County Boating Accident Lawyers

The trial attorneys at Blackman Legal Group, a California-based law firm founded by renowned trial attorney Clifford Blackman, have successfully represented boating accident victims and their families for 35 years. The nationwide toll-free number to call for a free consultation is 1-866-692-8126.

A 31-year-old passenger was killed in a DUI crash on Highway 36 in Bridgeville (45 miles from Eureka).

A 31-year-old passenger was killed in a drunk driving accident Tuesday night when the driver lost control and drove off of Highway 36 in Bridgeville, 45 miles southeast of Eureka.

•   A drunk driver lost control of her pickup truck on a narrow mountain highway and drove off the road.

•   The truck rolled down an embankment, ejecting the passenger. He died at the scene. 

•   The drunk driver sustained moderate injuries. She was treated at a hospital and then booked into the county jail on charges of driving under the influence and manslaughter.

The fatal solo-vehicle car accident occurred at around 9:40 p.m., according to an article in the Eureka Times-Standard.

The California Highway Patrol report said that 35-year-old Jennifer Lynn Diloreto of Hydesville was under the influence of alcohol when she drove a white Toyota pickup truck eastbound on State Route 36 with the victim in the passenger seat.

Diloreto’s pickup truck crossed over into the westbound lane for unknown reasons and then went off of the left (north) shoulder of the highway. The truck rolled down an embankment onto the rocky riverbank below, the CHP report stated.

Diloreto’s passenger was ejected from the truck. He was pronounced dead at the scene. The Humboldt County Coroner’s Office later confirmed his identity as 31-year-old Jason Molter of Lake Elsinore.

Diloreto suffered moderate injuries and was transported by ground ambulance to Redwood Memorial Hospital in Fortuna, about halfway between Bridgeville and Eureka. She was treated at the hospital and then booked into the Humboldt County Jail on charges of driving under the influence and manslaughter, the CHP report said.

Assistant District Attorney Kelly Neel said Diloreto was arrested on drunk driving charges in 2011 with a blood alcool level almost twice the legal limit. Dilorteto failed to complete a multiple offender course as ordered by the court, Neel said. A bench warrant for her arrest on the 2011 DUI charge was active at the time of Tuesday’s crash.

The multiple offender status stemmed from an arrest for possession of marijuana in 2008, according to court documents. Diloreto completed a program following that arrest and those charges were dismissed.

 Humboldt County Drunk Driving Accident Lawyers

The trial attorneys at Blackman Legal Group, a California-based law firm founded by renowned trial attorney Clifford Blackman, have successfully represented the families of drunk driving accident victims for 35 years. The nationwide toll-free number to call for a free consultation is 1-866-692-8126.

Two passengers were killed in a drunk driving accident on Highway 180 in Fresno. (Video capture: ABC News)

A 24-year-old woman was jailed Saturday after a fatal drunk driving accident on Highway 180 in Fresno. Two of her passengers died.

•  Four Kings Canyon National Park employees were traveling in a Ford Mustang when the driver — who was drunk — lost control of the vehicle on Highway 180.

•  The car went off the road, hit some trees, and crashed down a steep embankment. 

•  Two of the passengers died at the scene. The other was hospitalized with moderate injuries.

•  The driver was jailed on multiple felony DUI charges, including two counts of vehicular manslaughter.

The deadly accident occurred at around 4:30 a.m., according to an ABC News report on KSFN Channel 30, a local network affiliate station.

The California Highway Patrol said Selma resident Stephanie Soza was drunk when she lost control of her 2003 Ford Mustang  on a steep and winding stretch of Highway 180 near Highway 245, about 50 miles east of Fresno.

The Mustang veered off of the narrow two-lane road, crashed into  a mile-post marker, hit a couple of trees, and then went down a steep embankment.

When the car hit the trees, the two male passengers in the car — an 18-year-old from Badger and 21-year-old Joshua Paramore from Philadelphia — hit their heads on the windshield frame, CHP Officer Carlos Gutierrez said. Both of them died at the scene.

Soza got out of the car, climbed back up to the highway, and flagged down a Tulare County ambulance that was passing by and already had a passenger on board, according to an article in the Fresno Bee. It took 30 minutes for paramedics to find the car. When they arrived, they found 22-year-old Katrina Rodriguez alive at the crash site.

Rodriguez suffered moderate injuries. The nature and extent of the injuries was not disclosed. Soza suffered minor injuries. Both women were taken to Community Regional Medical Center to be treated. Rodriguez remained hospitalized.

Soza was released into police custody. She was arrested and booked into Fresno County Jail on three counts of felony driving under the influence resulting in injury and two counts of gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated.

Soza and all three of her passengers were living and working in Grant Grove Village in Kings Canyon National Park. Grief counselors were sent to the tight-knit community to help the other employees.

Fresno Drunk Driving Accident Lawyers

The trial attorneys at Blackman Legal Group, a California-based law firm founded by renowned trial attorney Clifford Blackman, have successfully represented drunk driving accident victims and their families for 35 years. The nationwide toll-free number to call for a free consultation is 1-866-692-8126.

The suspect in a fatal accident in Winchester was high on pot, police say.

Fatal DUI crash: The 20-year-old suspect in a head-on collision that killed a woman Monday in Winchester was high on pot, police say.

•   A man who was under the influence of marijuana started weaving in and out of traffic lanes. 

•   His vehicle crossed over into oncoming traffic and slammed head-on into another vehicle, killing the elderly female driver.

•   The man was hospitalized with major injuries but was expected to survive. He was arrested on felony DUI and vehicular manslaughter charges.

The fatal accident occurred just after 11 a.m., according to a report in the Riverside Press Enterprise.

CHP Officer Darren Meyer said Menifee resident Ryan Mahan was driving a 2003 Saturn Ion  westbound on Domenigoni Parkway, south of Hemet.

Witnesses said Mahan was speeding up and slowing down as he drove along the Parkway.  Meyer told the Southwest Riverside News Network that the Ion started to swerve in and out of lanes, possibly because Mahan was falling asleep. Eventually, the vehicle swerved into the oncoming traffic lane.

“The Saturn swerved south, over the concrete center median and directly into the path of an eastbound 2011 Toyota Camry,” Meyer said.

The Saturn slammed into the Toyota, killing the driver, 69-year-old Ella Anne Jefferson of Hemet. She was pronounced dead at the scene.

Mahan suffered major injuries and was transported to Inland Valley Medical Center in Wildomar in serious condition, Meyer said. He was arrested at the hospital. He was being treated for two broken legs and internal injuries, but was expected to survive, Meyer said.

Investigators found marijuana paraphernalia in the Saturn. They determined that Mahan was under the influence of the drug. Toxicology tests are pending.

Meter said Mahan did not have a prescription for medical marijuana, but even if he did it would not have exempted him from driving under the influence. Driving under the influence of marijuana poses the same danger and carries the same penalties as alcohol, Meyer said.

“I think marijuana’s worse,” Meyer said. “People think if they have a prescription, they can do whatever they want and makes them feel like there are no consequences. But it still affects the ability to operate heavy machinery. If you crash and kill somebody, there are consequences.”

Mahan faces felony charges of driving under the influence and vehicular manslaughter.

Winchester Wrongful Death Lawyers

The trial attorneys at Blackman Legal Group, a California-based law firm founded by renowned trial attorney Clifford Blackman, have successfully represented the families of wrongful death victims for 35 years. The nationwide toll-free number to call for a free consultation is 1-866-692-8126.