A 21-year-old man pleaded not guilty Wednesday to charges of leading police on a chase that ended in a crash that killed another motorist in Placentia.
Darwin Felipe Bahamon Martinez is charged with gross vehicular manslaughter and evading a police officer causing death, both felonies. Martinez is accused of killing 59-year-old Jose Antonio Ramos-Hernandez.
The chase started about 7:40 p.m. Jan. 21 near Miraloma and Lawrence avenues in Anaheim, Anaheim police Sgt. Eric Anderson said. Officers on patrol saw the suspect behind the wheel of a dark-colored Jeep Gladiator driving recklessly and nearly colliding with a parked car.
When the suspect nearly collided with the police vehicle, the officers pulled him over, but the driver punched the gas and drove off as they walked up to his Jeep, Anderson said.
The pursuit lasted a few minutes, and the driver slammed into two cars at Bradford and Madison avenues in Placentia, Anderson said.
An elderly woman behind the wheel of one of the cars was taken to an area hospital with non-life-threatening injuries, Anderson said. Ramos-Hernandez was pronounced dead at the scene.
Martinez was ordered held on $2 million bail. He is next due in court Feb. 5 in the North Justice Center in Fullerton.