SAN DIEGO : Not-Guilty Plea in Hit-Run Accident
A Mexican citizen pleaded not guilty Wednesday to charges stemming from a hit-and-run accident that left one woman dead and another severely injured.
Bernardino Montecinos, 24, was arraigned on one felony count of hit-and-run driving and one misdemeanor count of vehicular manslaughter with negligence. The hit-and-run charge carries a maximum penalty of three years in state prison, while the misdemeanor charge is punishable by one year in custody.
Municipal Judge Charles L. Patrick ordered Montecinos held in lieu of $20,000 bail. A bail hearing will be held Monday, and a preliminary hearing is set for Aug. 18.
Montecinos is charged with killing Barbara Jean Rivers, 35, who was struck Sunday in a crosswalk in the 300 block of 28th Street half a block from her home. Sharon Alexander, 30, who was walking with Rivers, suffered two broken arms, two broken legs and internal injuries.
Montecinos was arrested more than nine hours later when a businessman saw him asleep in his black Cadillac sedan 4 miles from the accident scene.
“He made admissions that he was driving the car at the time of the accident,” Deputy Dist. Atty. Richard Lewis said.
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