A 44-year-old Riverside man was sentenced Friday to 35 years to life in prison for killing his passenger in a crash that occurred during a police chase that started in Westminster.
Javier Homero Montoya was convicted April 25 of second-degree murder and two felony counts of assault with a deadly weapon on a police officer. Jurors also found true sentencing enhancements for a secondary offense committed while out on bail.
Montoya also was convicted of burglary in 2000 in Riverside County.
Montoya was driving his Ford F-150 pickup truck out of the parking lot of a 24 Hour Fitness about 7:15 p.m., Dec. 1, 2014, when he refused to comply with a routine traffic stop, prosecutors said.
Montoya led police on a high-speed chase that led to the San Diego (405) Freeway, where he stomped on his brakes, causing a Westminster police officer’s squad car to slam into the back of Montoya’s truck, prosecutors said.
The defendant then rammed the truck into the side of the officer’s car before driving away, prosecutors said.
Westminster police saw Montoya again about 11:30 p.m. that night and he again led police on another high-speed chase on the 405 Freeway with his friend, 43-year-old Alberto Marquez, in the passenger seat, prosecutors said.
Montoya, who was driving with the truck’s headlights off, lost control of the vehicle near the Long Beach (710) Freeway and crashed into trees and light poles on the side of the road, prosecutors said.
Both men were pulled from the fiery wreckage, but Marquez was pronounced dead at the scene and Montoya avoided major injuries, prosecutors said.