3 Plead Not Guilty to Murder Charges in Big-Rig Accident : Court: The men are accused of fraud in the crash in which a fourth man died when their car was crushed on a Sun Valley freeway.

Three men who were in an auto crushed by an overturned car-carrier truck in Sun Valley last week pleaded not guilty Monday to murder and fraud charges stemming from the crash--an accident authorities say was staged to collect insurance.

A fourth man in the car, Jose Luis Perez, 29, died when the 18-wheeler overturned on the car Wednesday evening on the Golden State Freeway. The car’s driver, Jorge Sanchez, 29, deliberately swerved in front of the truck, police said.

Sanchez and passengers Isiais Aguilar-Martinez, 24, and Rubidia Lopez, 28, were arraigned Monday in Los Angeles Municipal Court on one count each of second-degree murder and conspiracy to commit insurance fraud.

The three Los Angeles residents were charged with murder under the theory that their illegal actions caused a death, Deputy Dist. Atty. Barry Thorpe said. Judge William R. Chidsey Jr. denied bail and set a July 6 preliminary hearing for the three.

The complaint alleges that Sanchez swerved his Pontiac Firebird numerous times and “applied his brakes directly in front of and close to” the big-rig truck. The truck, loaded with a dozen cars, jackknifed when its driver swerved to avoid rear-ending Sanchez’s car, police said.