VENTURA, Calif. – District Attorney Erik Nasarenko announced today that Gerardo Israel Escalante
(DOB 05/25/89), of Santa Paula, has been charged with felony driving under the influence (DUI)
causing injury, felony driving with a .08 percent blood alcohol causing injury, and one misdemeanor
count for unlawful vehicle operation. Escalante has also been charged with several special
allegations, including causing great bodily injury in the commission of a felony and for having prior
DUI convictions.

On December 16, 2023, at approximately 8:36 p.m. the California Highway Patrol received a
911 call of a white Mercedes swerving into oncoming traffic at high speeds. It was then reported
that the Mercedes crashed head-on with a Ventura County Sheriff’s Office patrol vehicle on Pacific
Coast Highway, north of Deer Creek Road. The patrol vehicle traveled off the roadway and down
the embankment onto the rocks near the ocean’s edge, with the deputy and his K9 inside.
The deputy was transported to Ventura County Medical Center (VCMC) to be treated for his
injuries. His K9 partner sustained a cut to his face.

Escalante, who is currently on probation for DUI, was also transported to VCMC and later arrested.
Deputy District Attorney Kelsey Einhorn, a member of the Ventura County District Attorney’s Office
DUI Unit, is the prosecutor assigned to the case.

Escalante’s arraignment was continued this morning to December 27, 2023, at 9:00 a.m. in
courtroom 11 of the Ventura County Superior Court. He’s currently in custody with bail set at
$500,000