SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — The driver of a pickup truck who Utah police say caused a vehicle crash last weekend that killed a newlywed bride who was still in her purple wedding dress has been arrested, a TV station reported.
The bride, Angelica Jimenez Dhondup, 26, was on her way to a party hours after her wedding in car driven by a cousin when the pickup truck crashed into it head-on early Saturday morning, KSL-TV reported, citing the Utah Department of Public Safety.
“She can’t even go to her honeymoon. She can’t even come home to her kids,” Tayler Craft, Dhondup’s best friend, told KSL-TV. “To think about what he did to somebody on their wedding night, when she just got married five hours ago.”
The pickup driver, Manaure Gonzalez-Rea, 36, stole another vehicle at the crash scene but was stopped by a trooper a few miles away, according to Utah Highway Patrol.
He was arrested and is accused of automobile homicide, failure to remain at an accident involving death and driving under the influence.
The arresting officer said Gonzalez-Rea’s breath smelled like alcohol and that he admitted to drinking three beers before the crash, according to arrest documents.
Gonzalez-Rea was being held in Salt Lake County Jail without bail. It was unclear if he had an attorney who could speak on his behalf.
Family members said Dhondup’s 20-year-old cousin who was driving the car she was in was released from a hospital Saturday afternoon.
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