One man is dead and another in serious condition after the two left a car driven by a drunk man early Wednesday morning to urinate off of a bridge, and wound up falling roughly three stories to the ground below.
Well into the two o’clock hour of Wednesday morning, a man that the California Highway Patrol (CHP) said was drunk pulled over on an I-15 freeway bridge so two passengers could pee off of the bridge. 10 News reported that Michael Jonathan Le, 25, was that driver. Video shows Le calling down to his friends.
“They had to use the restroom so we pulled over to use the restroom and next thing you know we’re looking for them, we looked over the edge and we realized they were down there,” Le told 10 News. He was drunk and arrested on suspicion of DUI, according to CHP.
Local Ray Mansky told 10 News that he thought it sounded like the men were drunk and fell off the freeway overpass.
The CHP said that someone called in a report that a car had stopped in the HOV lane and two men exited to relieve themselves and had fallen off the edge. When officers arrived, vehicle occupants were yelling down to the two men.
Paramedics had to hike half a mile to reach the fallen men, according to the report.
10 News uncovered DMV records showing Le had been arrested a little over a year ago for driving over 100 mph and not having insurance. After the October 2015 arrest Le failed to appear in court and his driver license was suspended. He was driving without a valid license at the time of the Wednesday incident.
Both victims were 22 years old. Pablo Barajas was pronounced dead on the scene, while the other victim was taken to a local hospital, according to the report. The surviving victim was not immediately identified.
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