A motorist was charged with gross vehicular manslaughter Monday in the death of a woman as she walked to work at the Walt Disney Studios in Burbank.
Stergios Antonios Economos, 37, pleaded not guilty in a Burbank courtroom to one count each of gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated and driving under the influence of a drug causing injury, according to the District Attorney’s Office.
He is also facing an allegation that he inflicted great bodily injury on two victims.
He is scheduled to return to court on Oct. 4, when a date is expected to be set for a preliminary hearing to determine whether there is sufficient evidence to proceed to trial.
Prosecutors say Economos ran a red light at a crosswalk near Alameda Avenue and Lincoln Street on Thursday morning and ran over 64-year-old Michelle Landes of Los Angeles.
She was a Walt Disney Co. employee walking to work at the company’s nearby studio lot, prosecutors said.
Prosecutors allege that Economos then crashed into a car and “greatly injured” the driver. That individual’s name was not released.
Economos and a passenger were detained by police, “as alcohol, drugs or a combination of both appeared to be factors in the collision,” Burbank Police Sgt. Derek Green said.
The other passenger was released.
Economos was held on $1 million bail, according to the sheriff’s website.
If convicted as charged, he faces a maximum sentence of more than 11 years in prison.
–City News Service