Wichita man gets prison for wrong way DUI crash on K-254 that killed Caldwell teen

A Wichita man will serve four years, eight months in prison for killing a Caldwell teen in a drunken driving crash on Kansas Highway 254 in northeastern Sedgwick County last fall.

Jose Rios-Cruz Jr., 40, pleaded guilty in June to one count of involuntary manslaughter while driving under the influence in the Sept. 25, 2021, death of 19-year-old Clayton D. Patterson. He was sentenced Friday by Sedgwick County District Judge Bruce Brown, said Dan Dillon, a spokesman for the Sedgwick County District Attorney’s Office.

Authorities at the time of the deadly crash said Rios-Cruz drove a GMC Sierra truck the wrong direction in the eastbound lanes of K-254 and ran nearly head-on into the Chrysler PT Cruiser Patterson was driving. Sedgwick County Sheriff’s Lt. Benjamin Blick said then that Rios-Cruz “exhibited signs of intoxication” after the 2:45 a.m. collision.

Rios-Cruz had “blood-shot and watery eyes,” “swayed from left to right multiple times” in front of law enforcement, slurred his speech and smelled of alcohol, an affidavit released by the court says. Blood tests showed he was too drunk to drive — his blood-alcohol level was more than twice the legal limit of .08, according to the document.

Rios-Cruz was also driving 20 miles per hour over the posted speed limit of 70 three seconds before the crash and was traveling 87 mph immediately before impact, the affidavit says.

Patterson, a 2020 high school graduate who grew up in Clearwater, died at the scene from blunt force trauma, according to his autopsy report.

Prosecutors asked for a 56-month sentence while Rios-Cruz wanted less time, 48 months, according to his plea agreement.