Daniel Russell was arrested on DUI charges following a fiery crash in Fountain Hills that left him and four others hospitalized Sunday afternoon.
According to Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office spokesman Joaquin Enriquez, a white four-door sedan driven by 31-year-old Daniel Russell collided head-on with a blue Corvette on Saguaro Boulevard near Shea Boulevard.
An SUV then bumped into one of the vehicles and, at some point, rolled backward into a parked ambulance.
The Corvette and sedan caught fire, and bystanders rushed to pull everyone out of the vehicles.
Joaquin said both vehicles were engulfed in flames when deputies arrived, but the drivers and passengers were out of the vehicles. The Rural Metro Fire Department was on scene tending to the fires and assessing injuries.
Joaquin said the driver and passenger of the Corvette were airlifted to John C. Lincoln Hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.
Two passengers from the SUV were transported to Scottsdale Shea Medical Center by ground ambulance for precautionary measures.
Russell was transported by ground ambulance to Maricopa County Medical Center, also as a precaution.
Deputies followed Russell’s ambulance to conduct a DUI investigation and later arrested him at the hospital. Joaquin said Russell will be booked into the Fourth Avenue Jail upon his release from the hospital.