A Santa Clarita Valley man who was reportedly recorded driving through Saugus with his friends while using his foot to steer the vehicle was involved in an accident with another vehicle. The driver of the SUV was taken into custody on Friday and is now facing charges on suspicion of driving under the influence of alcohol.
20-year-old Victor Canasmoreira was driving an SUV with three of his friends riding along on the evening of February 12. One of the passengers began recording a part of their excursion from inside of the vehicle and uploaded the video to Snapchat. The driver, later identified as Canasmoreira, was seen joking around with the others and with his foot resting on the steering wheel appearing as if he was steering with his leg.
Around 10:30 p.m., nearly two hours after the video was uploaded, Canasmoreira was cruising around a bend in the road while allegedly speeding and swerved out of his lane across the painted double yellow lines. As the SUV veered into the oncoming lane a sedan collided into its side resulting in an accident that reportedly caused injuries to both of the drivers and all three of the passengers.
Canasmoreira and the driver of the sedan were blood tested for drugs and alcohol in their systems and both tested negative for drugs. Canasmoreira’s alcohol level was reported as .05, and there was no alcohol detected in the other driver’s blood.
Investigators were made aware of the video on Snapchat before long and viewed the content showing Canasmoreia with his leg resting on the steering wheel while the SUV was in motion.
Los Angeles County District Attorney’s office prosecutors determined that Canasmoreira, who did not turn 21 until nearly 2 months after the crash, would face felony charges for allegations of driving under the influence of alcohol with great bodily injury under the age of 21. Though his blood alcohol level was under the legal limit there is zero tolerance for underage DUI.
Santa Clarita Valley Station deputies arrived at Canasmoreira’s home just after 8:00 on Friday morning and placed him under arrest. He remains in custody on $100,000 bail.
If you or someone you love is suspected of DUI, contact Orange County criminal defense lawyer Staycie R. Sena at (949) 477-8088 for a consultation now.