A Diamond Bar man waived his right Thursday to a jury trial on vehicular manslaughter and reckless driving charges stemming from a crash into a group of Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department recruits on a training run in the Whittier area and fatally injuring one of them, with the case now expected to be heard by a judge.
Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Laura Walton is set to hear the case against Nicholas Joseph Gutierrez, who told reporters in 2022 that he fell asleep at the wheel.
Gutierrez, now 25, is due back in a Norwalk courtroom for a pretrial hearing March 5.
He pleaded not guilty in January 2024 to a grand jury indictment charging him with one count of vehicular manslaughter with gross negligence and nine counts of reckless driving on a highway causing a specified injury, along with a misdemeanor count of vehicular manslaughter with ordinary negligence.
The case stems from the crash that occurred around 6:30 a.m. Nov. 16, 2022 in the 10600 block of Mills Avenue, near Telegraph Road, just blocks from the sheriff’s STAR Explorer Academy law enforcement training center in Whittier.
A group of about 75 law enforcement trainees were on an organized run heading north when a southbound 2018 Honda CRV swerved to the opposite side of the street and plowed into the recruits, leaving a trail of injured bodies.
The crash injured 25 recruits, sheriff’s officials said at the time.
One of them, Alejandro Martinez, a 27-year-old veteran and graduate of Cal State Northridge, died July 28, 2023 at Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center in Westwood as a result of his injuries
Gutierrez had been charged with all but the misdemeanor count in a case filed by the District Attorney’s Office in November 2023 before prosecutors sought the grand jury indictment.
He was initially arrested hours after the crash and booked on suspicion of attempted murder of a peace officer, but was released a day later, with sheriff’s officials saying the complex case needed more extensive investigation.
Gutierrez was re-arrested in November 2023 by the California Highway Patrol and released on $500,000 bond within less than two hours.
He could face up to 12 years in state prison if convicted as charged, according to the District Attorney’s Office.