The man who may have killed four people in a car crash early Sunday morning near Pendleton now faces four counts of first-degree manslaughter and one charge of driving drunk.

Oregon State Police arrested John Cole Carlgren, 46, of Carlton, following a crash that killed three men and a woman. OSP spokesman Lt. Gregg Hastings said the preliminary investigation shows Carlgren was driving a 1999 Dodge Dakota westbound when it rear-ended a 1991 Chevrolet Beretta at about 12:19 a.m. near Milepost 219 in the westbound lane of Interstate 84.

Jessie Cline, 29, of Hermiston, was driving the Beretta, which had three passengers: Michelle Sawyer, 29, of Lynnwood, Wash., but now living in Hermiston; William Johnson, 24, of Hermiston; and Fred A. Young Jr., 31, of Boardman. All four were wearing seat belts.

After getting hit, the passenger car drove across the westbound lanes and stopped on the left shoulder, and the pickup ended up on the right shoulder.

Hastings said it appears the pickup hit the car with enough force to push it off the road. However, Hastings added the crash scene investigation is on-going and it will take a few days before authorities finish the work.

Cline and his three passengers died at the scene. They had been returning from La Grande after participating in a dance with the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Carlgren was returning home from Utah, Hastings said. Umatilla Tribal Fire & Ambulance took Carlgren to St. Anthony Hospital in Pendleton, where he received medical treatment for minor injuries. State troopers then arrested Carlgren following his hospital release and booked him in the Umatilla County Jail on four counts of second-degree manslaughter and the DUII charge.

But Umatilla County District Attorney Dean Gush upped the manslaughter charges to first-degree today, making them a Class A felony that carries a 10-year mandatory minimum prison sentence.

Gushwa said the initial charges are simply what the state police arrested Carlgren for, but after his office investigated the crash scene further, Gushwa decided on the harsher charges. He said the difference between first-degree manslaughter and second-degree manslaughter has to do with the state of recklessness.

“I believe this demonstrated a manifest indifference to the value of human life,” Gushwa said.

Carlgren pleaded not guilty to all charges, and Umatilla County Circuit Court Judge Garry Reynolds set his bail at $400,000. Carlgren remains in the county jail.

Gushwa said he will now take the case to a Umatilla County Grand Jury this week.