A Corvallis man was arrested Thursday on multiple charges after a fatal crash in northeast Salem that killed a passenger, Salem police announced Friday.
A Salem police officer responded just after 10 p.m. to a report of a stolen vehicle in the 4000 block of Northeast Wilnema Place, according to a Salem Police Department statement.
Police learned the man had been involved in a crash and was looking for his vehicle. Officers found the scene of the crash at the intersection of Northeast Hawthorne Avenue and Silverton Road.
The department’s traffic team determined the crash occurred earlier in the night around 9:15 p.m.
Salem police said they learned the man who made the report, 27-year-old Jose Alberto Guzman Guzman was driving his BMW sedan north on Hawthorne Avenue just south of Silverton Road when he was unable to make the slight left curve in the road. His sedan left the right shoulder of the road, entered the parking lot of a nearby equipment rental retailer and crashed into a large piece of machinery in the business’ parking lot before coming to a stop.
A passenger in the backseat, 25-year-old Jose Milian Milian, died of injuries he suffered in the crash.
Guzman was arrested and booked into Marion County Jail on charges of first-degree manslaughter, driving under the influence off an intoxicant, reckless endangering, reckless driving and hit-and-run.
He is scheduled to be arraigned Friday at 2 p.m. at the Marion County Circuit Court Annex.
Contact reporter Ardeshir Tabrizian: [email protected] or 503-929-3053.
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Ardeshir Tabrizian has covered criminal justice and housing for Salem Reporter since September 2021. As an Oregon native, his award-winning watchdog journalism has traversed the state. He has done reporting for The Oregonian, Eugene Weekly and Malheur Enterprise.
