A wrong-way crash in Ventura involving a driver suspected of being under the influence claimed the lives of two people overnight.
CHP officers were first dispatched to the 101 Freeway near Emma Wood State Beach just before 2:30 a.m. on Saturday on reports of a driver heading south in the northbound lanes, preliminary information indicated.
The wrong-way vehicle, a Volkswagen Jetta, eventually collided head-on with a Nissan Versa north of Seaward Avenue.
Video footage from the scene obtained by KTLA shows the two mangled vehicles on opposite sides of the freeway with debris strewn across all lanes.
California Highway Patrol officials issued a press release early Saturday afternoon confirming the victims, a 52-year-old man and a 55-year-old man from Santa Barbara, had died at the scene. Their identities are being withheld pending notification of next of kin.
The driver was identified in the release as Evan John Bouchard, 21, of Oxnard. He was hospitalized with minor injuries before being booked into the Ventura County Jail on charges of driving under the influence causing injury and gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated.