PALA MESA VILLAGE, Calif. -- A drunken driving suspect was facing an array of criminal charges, including manslaughter, stemming from a North County police chase and traffic crash that severed one of his legs below the knee and killed another driver.

Despite the disfiguring injury he suffered, 23-year-old Silvero Romero allegedly got out of his mangled sport utility vehicle and made a failed attempt to evade arrest by hobbling away from the three-vehicle wreck he caused on State Route 76 on Sunday evening, according to the California Highway Patrol.

Romero, driving a 2001 Ford Explorer, was pulled over about 7 p.m. for speeding on southbound Interstate 15, near the northern border of San Diego County, CHP public affairs Officer Eric Newbury said.

During the traffic stop, Romero suddenly sped off, fleeing at speeds exceeding 100 mph and veering between all the lanes and the right-hand shoulder, according to Newbury.

About seven miles to the south, Romero merged onto SR-76 in the Pala Mesa Village area and headed west, running a red light at Old Highway 395, Newbury said.

A short time later, the Explorer crossed over a set of double yellow lines and into an eastbound lane, where it collided head-on with a 1999 Toyota Tacoma pickup truck. The suspect continued driving the wrong way for a short time before his sport utility vehicle collided with an oncoming 2004 Ford F-350 truck.

The explorer then overturned and tumbled down an embankment, Newbury said. Though the lower part of his left leg was torn off in the accident, Romero tried to flee on foot, Newbury said. The suspect collapsed about 50 feet from his overturned Explorer and was taken into custody.

Medics airlifted the driver of the Toyota pickup, 27-year-old Douglas Tarry of Moreno Valley, to Palomar Medical Center in Escondido, where he was pronounced dead a short time later, according to the county Medical Examiner's Office.

The driver of the Ford truck, Barstow resident James Riley, 50, suffered minor injuries in the crash, as did his 43-year-old wife, Jennifer.

Romero, who remains hospitalized, will be charged with various felony charges, including manslaughter, evading police, driving while intoxicated and hit-and- run, Newbury said.

The crashes forced an 8 1/2-hour closure of the state route.