Napa Crash Driver Had 3 Previous DUIs, District Attorney Says; 6 Victims Identified

A Stockton man suspected of drunk driving and charged with murder after a deadly crash in Napa County on Sunday had three previous DUIs, according to the county’s district attorney’s office.

Norberto Celerino, 53, was convicted of multiple DUIs in San Joaquin County in August 2020 and as recently as Sept. 20, 2024. He has a third prior DUI conviction that was recorded more than 10 years ago, according to the district attorney’s office.

Celerino — who has also gone by other various names — faces six counts of murder, six counts of gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated and a felony DUI charge causing injury with two or more prior DUI convictions in connection with the crash that killed six people over the weekend, District Attorney Allison Haley announced Tuesday.

Celerino was allegedly driving a Toyota Sienna minivan under the influence of alcohol while carrying seven passengers when the car veered off the road and crashed into a tree around 5:50 p.m. Sunday.

The van was traveling southbound on Pope Valley Road in an unincorporated area west of Calistoga, about a mile south of Pope Valley Winery.

California Highway Patrol responded to the single-vehicle crash and pronounced six of the eight victims dead at the scene. The van’s two other occupants, including Celerino, were airlifted to nearby hospitals with major injuries, CHP spokesperson Andrew Barclay said.

All six of the men who died in the crash are believed to be farmworkers based in Stockton, according to the Napa County coroner’s office. According to Jasmin Ricardo — a daughter of one of the men killed, Loreto Ricardo Hernandez, 42 — her father and the rest of the victims were on their way to an overnight shift in the fields at the time.

“What hurts more is that this could’ve been avoided,” she wrote on an online fundraising page set up to raise money for Hernandez’s funeral.

According to Jasmin, he was a father of four, including a young son with a developmental disability. Both he and his wife are farmworkers.

Hernandez and Fernando Silverio, 34, were identified by the coroner’s office on Tuesday. The four remaining victims, Aaron Ruiz Ruiz, 39, Beymer Reynosa Rodriguez, 32, Demetrio Celerino Francisco, 39, and Pedro Lopez Gomez, 57, were identified on Wednesday.

Public information officer Henry Wofford said the Mexican Consulate of San Francisco assisted with the identification.

Celerino was initially arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence, causing injury and death after he arrived at Queen of the Valley Medical Center in Napa on Sunday, according to Barclay.

Celerino was on probation during the time of the incident, which could extend a possible sentence, the district attorney’s office said. He also faces special allegations for inflicting great bodily injury with a deadly weapon; great bodily injury; crimes involving “violence, cruelty, viciousness or callousness;” and crimes showing an “increasing level of seriousness” compared to previous offenses.

According to the district attorney’s office spokesperson, Carlos Villatoro, if convicted, Celerino faces 90 years to life in prison on the murder charges alone.

His arraignment was delayed while he remains at the hospital, being treated for his injuries.