INDIANAPOLIS – Investigators with the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department Accident Investigation Unit are investigating a collision, involving the suspicion of alcohol, that has killed two people and injured three others.
Detectives have arrested 22-year-old Luis Amador Aguilar, identified by witnesses as the driver of the white Lincoln Town Car, which allegedly ran a stop before crashing into the Ford pickup truck on Pendleton Pike, killing two and seriously injuring his passenger.
The suspect was preliminarily charged with two counts of Operating a Vehicle While Intoxicated (OVWI) causing Death and one count of OVWI causing Serious Bodily Injury. Investigators obtained a search warrant for a blood draw and are awaiting results which are expected to take several weeks. The suspect was taken to the Arrestee Processing Center (APC) for processing. The Marion County Prosecutors Office will review the case for a charging decision. No booking photo is available at this time.
The suspect’s injured passenger is identified as 27-year-old Ricardo Guadalupe Vasquez of Lawrence. Vasquez was transported to Methodist hospital in stable condition. An updated condition is not known at this time. The front seat passenger of the Ford truck is identified as 37-year-old Astria Long of Indianapolis. The deceased victims’ names will be released once next-of-kin notifications have been made. Should detectives release additional information, this release may be updated.
Just before 4:00 a.m., officers with the Indianapolis Metropolitan and Lawrence police departments were dispatched to the 7100 blk. of Pendleton Pike reference a serious crash. When officers arrived they observed a pickup truck and a white vehicle both had sustained significant damage. Inside the pickup truck was an unresponsive passenger who EMS personnel determined on the scene was deceased, a second passenger and a driver. The driver, and second passenger, of the pickup truck, were transported to IU Health Methodist Hospital in serious conditions. Despite the best life-saving efforts of medical personnel at the hospital, the driver of the pickup truck was also was pronounced deceased. The driver and passenger of the white vehicle were both transported to Eskenazi Hospital in stable conditions.
Preliminarily investigators believe that as the pickup truck was traveling south on Pendleton Pike the white vehicle coming west off of a side street collided with the pickup truck. Investigators summarize that the drivers of the pickup and vehicle had consumed alcohol.
According to the Centers for Disease and Control in 2014, almost 10,000 people were killed in alcohol-impaired driving crashes, accounting for nearly one-third (31%) of all traffic-related deaths in the United States.
The Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department would like to remind drivers that several alternative options are available to drivers who have consumed alcoholic beverages. Calling alternative transportation, either paid or family and friends, is the preferred option. Driving under the influence is considered a crime.
