Charles Springston III, a 38-year-old Oro Valley resident, has been identified as the driver killed in a head-on crash on Oracle Road on Oct. 26.
The Arizona Department of Public Safety (DPS) confirmed that Springston and Isaac Peraza, 48, of Tucson both died from injuries in the collision near Wilds Road, first reported by KOLD. Two other people in Peraza's truck suffered life-threatening injuries.
The crash happened around 6:15 a.m. on State Route 77, also known as Oracle Road, at milepost 85, just north of Oro Valley.
DPS said Springston was driving a Kia Stinger northbound on SR-77 when he lost control. He hit a traffic signal at Wilds Road, crossed a small desert median and traveled the wrong way briefly before striking an F-250 pickup pulling a trailer head-on, according to KGUN9. Both Springston and Peraza were pronounced dead at the scene.
The Kia became wedged underneath one of the trucks, KVOA reported. Two passengers in the pickup, a man and a woman, were taken to a hospital with serious injuries.
AAA Landscape confirmed Peraza was one of its employees and that two other crew members were injured. The company said in a Facebook post that the crew was heading to a job site when a vehicle traveling in the opposite direction lost control and collided with their truck.
The company said it would not release additional details out of respect for the employees and their families.
George Bidwell, a nearby resident, told KGUN9 he heard emergency vehicles shortly after 6 a.m. that morning. "Probably a little bit after 6 o'clock, and just sirens after sirens for good half hour," Bidwell said. "Haven't heard that many sirens up here for a long time."
Bidwell said he has seen crashes on that stretch of Oracle Road before, "but you know, nothing this bad."
Southbound SR-77 was closed between East Wilds Road and East Golder Ranch Drive on Oct. 26 while authorities investigated. The Pima County Sheriff's Department assisted DPS at the scene.
DPS has not said what caused Springston to lose control. The investigation is ongoing.
