Police have arrested the Camp Pendleton Marine who was behind the wheel of a 2005 Ford Mustang when it crashed into a palm tree in the early morning hours of March 17, killing the Pendleton Marine in the passenger seat.
The North County Times identified the 24-year-old driver as Patrick Lewis Barnett of North Carolina. Lt. Leonard Mata of the Oceanside Police Department told the NC Times that Barnett was charged with suspicion of driving while under the influence of drugs or alcohol, and gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated. Barnett is being held on $100,000 bail at the Vista Detention Center.
Police reported to the U-T San Diego that Barnett was purposely spinning and fishtailing the Mustang on the rain-slicked Coast Highway in Oceanside when he collided with a palm tree near Michigan Street. The tree then fell on the vehicle.
The San Diego County Medical Examiner's Office hasn't released the passenger's name, but the U-T San Diego reports he was a 25-year-old lance corporal in the Marines who worked as a mechanic.
