Woodside man charged in deaths of two friends killed in fiery crash on Highway 35

A 51-year-old Woodside man faces two counts of vehicular manslaughter and other charges after allegedly driving drunk and crashing his car on Highway 35, a fiery wreck that killed his two friends, the San Mateo County District Attorney’s Office said.

James Morton Worthington and his two friends, Henry Keating and Josh McGuigan, had dinner and drinks at Alice’s restaurant on Skyline Boulevard in Woodside on June 21 before the three men got into Worthington’s sedan at about about 5:30 p.m., according to District Attorney Steve Wagstaffe.

Worthington drove off on Highway 35 and allegedly traveled at high speeds on the winding mountain road. At the intersection of Highway 35 and Reids Roost Road, Worthington lost control of his car and struck a tree head-on, prosecutors said. The car was going about 90 mph and “exploded in a ball of fire,” Wagstaffe wrote in a summary of the case.

Several witnesses stopped and ran up to the vehicle and pulled the unconscious Worthington out, but Keating and McGuigan died at the crash site. Worthington was transported to Stanford Hospital with broken ribs and other injuries.

He was later arrested after a sobriety test administered more than three hours after the crash showed he had a blood-alcohol level of .10%, above the California legal limit of .08%.

Worthington remains in custody on $1 million bail. He pleaded not guilty to all charges during a hearing at the San Mateo County Superior Court Friday. His next hearing is Aug. 4.