David Mora, 29, turned himself in to Oxnard police and was booked on two felony counts of murder.
The Santa Paula resident surrendered Friday at 8 p.m., eight days after the eight-vehicle pileup that killed two men and sent four others to hospitals with injuries. A booking log shows Mora was arrested on a Ramey warrant, which permits police to take a suspect into custody before prosecutors formally file charges.
Mora allegedly ran a red light in his 2018 GMC Sierra pickup at an Oxnard intersection on Sept. 25, slamming into a 1998 Toyota Avalon and a 2005 Honda Civic. Both of those vehicles had the right of way with a green light. The drivers, two men aged 31 and 58 who have not been publicly identified, were pronounced dead at the scene. Five additional people were hurt in the broader pileup, and four vehicles sustained major damage.
Traffic investigators had previously indicated that speed and impairment by alcohol and/or drugs were believed to be contributing factors in the crash. Video captured in the aftermath showed damaged vehicles strewn across the crash site, with a heavily burned section of debris marking the front end of the wreck. The footage also appeared to show two vehicles near light poles that had fallen during the collision.
Mora’s listed occupation is engineer. His bail has been set at $5 million, and he has since been transferred to the Ventura County Jail.
The crash occurred in the city of Oxnard, located about 60 miles west of downtown Los Angeles. The intersection collision triggered a chain reaction involving eight vehicles total, leaving mangled wreckage across the roadway.
Mora will next appear in Ventura County Superior Court on Oct. 6, according to booking logs.
