A 19-year-old woman, identified as Arianna Perez, died after the SUV she was riding in left Highway 168 near Littlefield Road and rolled down an embankment in the Shaver Lake area of Fresno County on the night of September 10, 2026. Perez was riding in the back seat and was allegedly not wearing a seat belt; she was ejected from the vehicle and pronounced dead at the scene. Another passenger, who was wearing a seat belt, survived with major injuries and was taken to a hospital. The driver, 32-year-old Ricardo Arceo-Tapia of Fresno, was arrested on suspicion of felony DUI, and court records show he had been placed on probation for a separate DUI conviction less than a month before this crash.
According to ABC30 Fresno, Arceo-Tapia’s arraignment, originally scheduled for Wednesday, September 23, 2026, was postponed until October 7 after his current attorney told the court he is in the process of hiring private counsel. KMPH Fox 26 reported that the California Highway Patrol determined Arceo-Tapia was driving under the influence when the vehicle left the roadway and rolled down the hillside off Highway 168 between Shaver Lake and Cressman’s. Perez’s family has since set up a fundraiser to help cover funeral expenses, KMPH reported. The case remains pending as the court awaits Arceo-Tapia’s new legal representation.
A passenger was killed and the suspected drunk driver was arrested after a single-vehicle crash sent their car down a hillside along a winding stretch of Highway 168 near Littlefield Road outside Shaver Lake. The crash happened Thursday night, September 10, 2026, in the mountains of eastern Fresno County. California Highway Patrol officers responded to the remote, winding roadway and began investigating what caused the vehicle to leave the pavement. The driver was taken into custody on suspicion of driving under the influence after the passenger died in the crash.
According to ABC30 Fresno, CHP confirmed the vehicle rolled down a hillside off Highway 168 near Littlefield Road and that the driver was arrested on suspicion of DUI after the crash killed their passenger. The outlet reported that authorities had not released the identities of either occupant as of Friday. YourCentralValley.com (CBS47/KSEE24) separately confirmed the fatality near Shaver Lake, citing confirmation from local authorities that one person had died. Both outlets reported the cause of the crash remained under investigation, with no further details made public about the driver’s arrest.
