[ad_1]
The lawyer for the driver who ran over a group of 25 Los Angeles County Sheriff’s recruits during a recent training run in south Whittier said her client fell asleep at the wheel, contradicting Sheriff Alex Villanueva’s claim that the crash was intentional.
Attorney Alexandra Kazarian described the incident that left four recruits in critical condition as a “tragic accident.”
She said her client, Diamond Bar resident Nicholas Gutierrez, was on his way to work as an electrical engineer for a solar panel company when he fell asleep at the wheel of his Honda CR-V and veered onto the other side of the road, crashing into the column of recruits from the Sheriff’s Academy Class #464.
“He’s a good kid who fell asleep on his way to work early in the morning,” Kazarian said.
Villanueva previously told NewsNation that investigators “developed probable cause to believe [the crash] was intentional” and later arrested Gutierrez on suspicion of attempted murder.
“I have no idea why the sheriff said that,” Kazarian said. “All indications in the preliminary investigation are that there’s no evidence whatsoever that this was intentional.”
Villanueva noted that there was absolutely no indication alcohol was involved, as Gutierrez passed the breathalyzer test. However, a law enforcement source said marijuana was found inside the vehicle, and they are investigating whether Gutierrez was under the influence of the drug at the time of the crash.
The sheriff said there were no skid marks at the scene, and deputies struggled to initially remove Gutierrez from the vehicle.
Kazarian told the LA Times that Gutierrez has no animosity toward law enforcement. She added that his father is a retired corrections officer, and he has uncles in the LAPD, sheriff’s department and California Highway Patrol.
“He harbors absolutely no animosity toward law enforcement,” Kazarian stressed.
She also denied rumors that Gutierrez was a disgruntled academy recruit. “He never had any association with being a recruit,” she said.
Gutierrez was released from jail on November 17 after being held for the limit of 48 hours. Authorities are still gathering evidence to possibly present to prosecutors.
In an interview with KNBC-TV 4, Gutierrez claimed that the crash was not intentional.
“I wish it never happened. I feel bad it happened,” he said.
“They tried to say that I did it intentionally, which I didn’t,” he said. “I kept on telling them I didn’t. I asked if everything was OK.”
[ad_2]
