Northbound 101 Lanes to Close Wednesday Night, Thursday Morning

All three lanes of northbound Highway 101 from the State Street onramp to the El Seuno Road exit will be closed Wednesday at 10 p.m. and reopened Thursday morning at 6 a.m. for an investigation of a five-car collision that occurred early Wednesday morning. Vehicles traveling in the area will detour off Highway 101 onto Calle Real and re-enter Highway 101 on the El Sueno Road on-ramp.

Unlicensed drunk driver Alejandro Morales-Moscaira, traveling northbound just before El Sueno Road at around 4:30 a.m., hit the right shoulder guardrail, swerved, and eventually stopped perpendicular to oncoming traffic, blocking the entire middle lane and parts of the left and right lanes. Along with a passenger, Morales-Moscaira abandoned his 1999 Toyota with the lights turned off and stood along the right shoulder of the highway.

An approaching northbound vehicle — driven by Eileen Huddleston — struck the Toyota and also stopped in the middle of the highway. Following the first collision, oncoming SUV driver Chandler Guilbeault slowed as he saw the disabled vehicles and passed the collision on the left side. A third car — driven by Kyle Ong — approached the scene and also veered left to avoid the accident, but hit Guilbeault’s SUV because he was traveling much faster. A fourth northbound vehicle — driven by Margarita Ramirez — hit the first two disabled cars, which by this point were almost completely blocking all three lanes. Immediately following the collision, oncoming traffic was routed off Highway 101 at the San Marcos Pass exit until 6:30 a.m. when the freeway was reopened for morning commuters.

Morales-Moscaira, Huddleston, Ong, and Ramirez were all transported to Cottage Hospital’s Emergency Room. Ong sustained serious injuries. Morales-Moscaira was arrested for driving under the influence.