CHP identifies SLO County man killed in weekend crash

The California Highway Patrol has identified the man killed in car crash in northern San Luis Obispo County on Sunday.

According to a news release, the CHP responded to a report of a singular vehicle crash Sunday night on Nacimiento Lake Drive near Frazier Road after the vehicle hit a tree, injuring both the driver and another passenger and killing the backseat passenger.

CHP has now confirmed the identity of the deceased passenger as 48-year-old Paso Robles resident Matthew Baumgardner, CHP spokesperson Ryan Armstrong told The Tribune.

According to CHP’s release, Baumgardner was in the back passenger seat of the vehicle and “succumbed to his injuries at the scene.”

The driver, who survived but sustained major injuries from the crash, was identified as Paso Robles resident Joseph Mitchell Pate, 44. He was arrested on suspicion of DUI that evening.

Pate was driving westbound in a 2015 Chevrolet Camaro at an “unknown speed” when “for unknown reasons” the car veered off the north edge of the road, the release said. When Pate attempted to overcorrect, the vehicle collided with a tree.

In the front passenger seat also sat Mack Garcia, 41 of Paso Robles, who sustained minor injuries due to the crash, according to the release.

CHP Templeton is continuing to investigate the crash.