A jury was seated Thursday for the trial of a motorist accused of intentionally running over and killing a 46-year-old man on a Riverside street.
Sergio Reynaldo Gutierrez, 33, of Riverside allegedly ran over Benedicto Solanga, also of Riverside, in July 2021.
Gutierrez is charged with murder and a sentence-enhancing allegation of using a deadly weapon — his pickup truck — in the commission of a felony.
Jury selection began Tuesday and wrapped up Thursday morning at the Riverside Hall of Justice, where Riverside County Superior Court Judge Timothy Hollenhorst swore in the panel, after which he directed the prosecution and defense to commence their opening statements.
Testimony is expected to last about a week. Gutierrez is being held on $1 million bail at the nearby Robert Presley Jail.
According to a trial brief filed by the prosecution, on the afternoon of July 29, 2021, the defendant was driving his Ford F-250 on Market Street near the Pomona (60) Freeway underpass when he encountered Solanga walking with his bicycle and a friend, whose identity was not disclosed, going in the opposite direction of the pickup.
“The defendant honked the horn, put his hands out the window and gave Solanga the middle finger,” the brief stated. “Moments later, the truck made a U-turn and was traveling in the same direction as Solanga. The truck abruptly swerved to the right and struck him from behind. Solanga was catapulted into the air and landed face down.”
According to prosecutors, the man walking with Solanga was not injured. Gutierrez fled in the pickup and was briefly followed by witnesses, but they lost track of him after he sped through a red light, prosecutors allege.
The reasons for Gutierrez’s alleged hostility toward the victim were not specified.
Solanga was hospitalized, but he died three days later as a result of the impact, according to Riverside police Officer Ryan Railsback.
He said that detectives spent the ensuing three weeks attempting to identify the pickup driver and ultimately alleged it was Gutierrez. One of the witnesses who provided key information was a Riverside Auto-Theft Interdiction Detail Task Force member, who had encountered the defendant in the Santa Ana River bottom with the Ford F-250 on the day of the attack, trying to get the vehicle running.
The officer recalled graffiti on the pickup that bore the message, “Don’t (expletive) With This Truck,” according to court papers.
The defendant was taken into custody without incident on Aug. 17, 2021, along Sir Bedivere Drive.
He has no documented prior felony convictions in Riverside County.