Bani Duarte, the California woman who posted bond after she was arrested following a drunken driving crash that killed three Las Vegas teenagers in Huntington Beach, was back in jail Sunday after being charged with murder and after investigators learned she may have intended to flee the country to avoid prosecution, police said.
Duarte, 27, of San Clemente was arrested without incident in Downey about 1 p.m. Sunday on a $5 million warrant, Huntington Beach police said in a news release.
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The three teenagers killed in a two-vehicle PCH crash in Huntington Beach have been identified as Brooke Hawley, Dylan Mack and A.J. Rossi.
The driver of the second vehicle, who survived the crash, was identified as 27-year-old Bani Duarte of San Clemente. She was arrested on suspicion of vehicular manslaughter and DUI.
Duarte could later been seen smirking in her DUI mugshot.
The victims had traveled to Orange County for spring break and were traveling in a Toyota on Pacific Coast Highway when the fatal crash occurred.
The teens were stopped at a red light at about 1 a.m. Thursday when their car was rear-ended at a high rate of speed by a drunken Duarte.
The victims’ vehicle burst in flames, leaving the three teenagers helplessly trapped inside the wreckage.
All three were pronounced dead at the scene.
A fourth unnamed person was transported to a local hospital with undisclosed injuries.
Duarte was arrested on charges of “DUI alcohol causing bodily injury” and “gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated.”