A driver causing a crash that killed four young men Sunday in east Salem told officers he drank four beers prior to swerving through traffic and colliding with another vehicle, according to a deputy’s affidavit.

The document from the Marion County Sheriff’s Office provides new details about the crash Saul Hernandez-Roblero, 23, is accused of causing Sunday evening.

Hernandez-Roblero appeared in court yesterday where he was arraigned on manslaughter and reckless endangerment charges for the crash.

He faces four counts of second-degree manslaughter, four counts of recklessly endangering a person and driving under the influence of intoxicants, court records show.

Hernandez-Roblero and five young men planned to drive to Woodburn Sunday night, the affidavit said.

While driving a sedan along Northeast Cordon Road, he was “swerving all over the road,” prosecutor Caroline Floyd said in court Monday. He then swerved into oncoming traffic, causing a T-bone crash with an SUV, according to statements from prosecutors and the Marion County Sheriff’s Office.

Four passengers in the sedan died at the scene, the sheriff’s office said Sunday. None of them had worn seat belts before the crash, according to the affidavit.

The four victims were identified in court records Monday as Eduardo Guadalupe Zaragosa Flores, Bryan Juarez Zavala, Jose Eduardo Perez Mendoza and Jesus Eduardo Gonzales Ramos.

The sedan’s driver, Hernandez-Roblero, and a 20-year-old surviving passenger were taken to Salem Hospital for treatment of injuries. Hernandez-Roblero had a partially collapsed lung, but neither man had life-threatening injuries, according to the affidavit.

The driver and two child passengers in the SUV were also taken to Salem Hospital for treatment.

Hernandez-Roblero later told officers he had four Modelo beers before driving that night. An 18-pack of Modelo was open in the car Hernandez-Roblero was driving, and officers saw an opened beer in the car’s center console, according to the affidavit.

He told officers he drinks and drives “regularly,” out of curiosity, the affidavit said.

His blood alcohol level was recorded at 0.126, which is above the state’s legal limit of 0.08, according to court statements and records.

Hernandez-Roblero was identified by officers by a Mexican voter identification card he had on him after the crash, the affidavit said.

The crash is the deadliest reported in Marion County since a May 2023 truck collision that killed seven farmworkers. There have been 16 fatal crashes in the Salem area in 2025 so far.

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Salem man, 23, accused of manslaughter and driving drunk in crash that killed 4

Four die in traffic collision in east Salem

Contact reporter Madeleine Moore: [email protected].

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