2 men linked to fatal high-speed crash arrested

Two men were arrested March 22 in connection with a three-vehicle collision near Sun City West last November that killed a man.

According to court documents, 18year-old Fernando Amado Armendariz was driving south on El Mirage Road from Loop 303 at 110 miles per hour in a blue Hyundai Elantra when he crashed into a red Chevrolet pickup truck.

The pickup truck was traveling north on El Mirage Road and was driving 11 miles per hour as it attempted to turn onto Wescott Drive. The pickup truck caught fire after the collision, court documents stated.

Joshua Daniel Valenzuela, 21, was also driving a vehicle south on El Mirage Road in the adjacent lane, going approximately 86 miles per hour, court documents said.

The gray Audi ended up colliding with the blue Hyundai after it had hit the pickup truck. The driver of the pickup truck, Gary Woodworth, 85, was taken to a hospital and died the next day. Amado Armendariz suffered minor injuries, the court documents stated.

Valenzuela and his teenage passenger also suffered minor injuries.

Both Valenzuela and Amado Armendariz admitted to deputies that they had been driving over the speed limit, but they were not found to be impaired, court documents said.

Valenzuela told deputies he slowed down to about 80 miles per hour as Amado Armendariz was pulling away from him just before the collision with the pickup truck.

Each faces one count of reckless manslaughter in the death of the pickup truck driver as they drove almost double the speed limit and one count of endangerment for substantial risk of death or serious injury to the teenager in Valenzuela's vehicle, according to arrest documents.

Both were being held on a $100,000 bond. Electronic monitoring, supervision and curfew restrictions were the requirements set if bail was posted.

A preliminary hearing was set for March 31.