Suspected drunken driver in I-80 crash that killed 4 hit with murder charges

A 47-year-old Sacramento man was arrested after colliding with four other cars on Interstate 80 Saturday night, killing four and injuring six, authorities said. A 47-year-old Sacramento man was arrested after colliding with four other cars on Interstate 80 Saturday night, killing four and injuring six, authorities said. Photo: California Highway Patrol / / Photo: California Highway Patrol / / Image 1 of / 1 Caption Close Suspected drunken driver in I-80 crash that killed 4 hit with murder charges 1 / 1 Back to Gallery

A Sacramento County man with prior convictions and a suspended license for drunken driving was charged with four counts of murder in connection with an East Bay car crash that killed four members of a UC Berkeley baseball player’s family.

Fred Lowe, 47, of Carmichael, made a brief appearance in Contra Costa County Superior Court in Richmond on Thursday, but his arraignment was postponed until Dec. 14 and he was ordered to be held in jail on $4.2 million bail.

The murder charges stem from the Saturday collision on westbound Interstate 80 at San Pablo Dam Road in San Pablo that injured UC Berkeley baseball player Jared Horn and killed his father, brother, uncle and cousin.

Lowe is also charged with driving under the influence of alcohol and with causing great bodily injury within 10 years of two other driving-under-the-influence offenses.

The defendant appeared briefly in court but, seated behind a mirrored partition, was not visible to courtroom observers. His lawyer, deputy public defender Jeff Landau, told the judge he needed more time to prepare his case.

Lowe had been convicted of DUI offenses in 2011 and 2012, according to deputy district attorney Derek Butts. Lowe’s license had been suspended as of 2011, and was also suspended on four other occasions, Butts said. Lowe’s license also had been revoked in 1999 in connection with another offense, according to the Department of Motor Vehicles.

Butts said he filed murder charges against Lowe on Wednesday because of what he called Lowe’s “implied malice” based on his prior drunken driving convictions.

Lowe fled the crash that also injured six people, but was quickly caught and initially jailed on suspicion of vehicular manslaughter.

Jared Horn, of Napa, was the driver and only survivor in his car. The crash killed his father, Daryl Horn, 50; and his brother, Joseph Horn, 14, both of Napa; and Daryl Horn’s brother-in-law, Troy Biddle, 52, and Biddle’s 12-year-old son, Baden, both of Bainbridge Island, Wash.

The family members, all active in youth sports, had spent the day playing in a father-son basketball tournament.

Troy Biddle was a partner at the Seattle law firm Carroll Biddle & Bilanko.

“The entire case is shocking and jarring,” Butts said after the brief courtroom hearing. “Anyone familiar with DUI doesn’t need my words to tell you how bad this is.”

Jared Horn, a 21-year-old sophomore, was treated in a hospital for injuries suffered in the crash, but has since returned home to Napa to recover.

Annie Ma and Steve Rubenstein are San Francisco Chronicle staff writers. Email: ama@sfchronicle.com and srubenstein@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @anniema15 and @SteveRubeSF