A California man who told officers to “just take me in” while being questioned following a car accident in 2023 has pleaded guilty to the charges against him and is now facing prison.
The Tulare County District Attorney’s Office announced in a press release on Thursday that Maxwell Barrios, 28, pleaded guilty in February to felony DUI causing injury, felony DUI with a BAC of.08% or higher, and felony driving under the influence of alcohol and drugs, two years after crashing his Honda HRV into a car carrying two women. Both women survived, but sustained “massive” injuries, according to the DA.
According to the DA, at the scene of the crash, Barrios drunkenly told officers to “just take me in” after “pledging the fifth.”
According to the DA, the crash happened around 2:20 a.m. on April 2, 2023, in Tulare, California, in the Central Valley. Barrios, driving the red HRV, rear-ended a Dodge truck “at a high rate of speed,” flipping the car over with enough momentum to land on its wheels.
The women inside, who were not identified, were both transported to a nearby hospital for treatment of serious injuries. While both victims sustained non-life-threatening injuries, one woman eventually had one of her arms partially amputated. The DA stated that she has already undergone ten surgeries related to her crash injuries, with more scheduled. The other woman required “extensive surgery” to one of her hands.
While Barrios was receiving medical attention following the crash, the DA stated that he was slurring his words and wished to apologize to the victims. He also claimed that “people told him not to drive drunk” before getting behind the wheel that night.
Barrios was later discovered to have a blood alcohol content of.23%, which is significantly higher than the legal limit of.08%. The DA claimed he was also high, with Delta 9 tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) in his system.
After pleading guilty to all charges against him on February 25, Barrios was sentenced to four years and four months in state prison on Wednesday.
