Hayward man sentenced to 16 years for killing driver in two-car crash

OAKLAND — A Hayward man was sentenced to 16 years in prison for causing a crash that killed a 26-year-old man, court records show.

Kenneth Santos, 30, pleaded no contest last October to a vehicular manslaughter charge with a prior strike offense. He was sentenced Thursday to 16 years in state prison and more than $4,500 in victim restitution.

Santos was originally charged with murder for a multitude of reasons: prosecutors alleged he turned off his headlights to avoid police, and crashed into another vehicle while driving with four different drugs in his system.

Santos was driving on Mission Boulevard near Berry Avenue at around 11:20 p.m. on Jan. 6, 2022, when he spotted a Hayward patrol cop, turned off his headlights, and accelerated toward Carlos Bee Boulevard, according to police. There, he allegedly ran a red light and t-boned a vehicle being driven by 26-year-old David Anderson.

Both men were hospitalized, and Anderson died from his injuries five days later. According to police, blood tests performed at Eden Medical Center turned up evidence Santos had used amphetamines, opiates, cannabis and ecstasy. At the time of the crash, Santos was on parole for a January 2021 conviction of evading a peace officer in a motor vehicle.

Santos’ sentencing order includes a judge’s recommendation that he participate in drug treatment programs while incarcerated. He remains in Santa Rita Jail for now, with a pending transfer to the state prison system.