OXNARD : Motorist to Stand Trial in Deaths of 2 Men

A Camarillo man accused of killing two men while he was driving drunk along Oxnard Boulevard last month was ordered to stand trial in Ventura County Superior Court on two counts of vehicular manslaughter Thursday.

An arraignment date of June 16 was set for Gary Scott Samaniego, 21, by Municipal Judge Barry B. Klopfer after a three-hour preliminary hearing.

Samaniego is accused of killing Oxnard residents Baltazar Camacho Bojorquez, 37, and his nephew, Eleno Leyva Bojorquez, 20. A 61-year-old Oxnard man who was walking his bicycle across the street also was injured.

Deputy Dist. Atty. James D. Ellison called on several witnesses to testify at Thursday’s hearing, including Oxnard Police Officer Robin Brunson, who said Samaniego was driving faster than 65 m.p.h. moments before the May 2 collision.

Brunson acknowledged under cross-examination that he did not smell any alcohol inside the car when he approached the red Pontiac Firebird, which came to rest facing the wrong way on Oxnard Boulevard.

But investigators said after the accident that Samaniego’s blood-alcohol level was .29--nearly four times the legal limit.

A taxi driver who witnessed the 1:40 a.m. crash said the stoplight at 7th Street was red for Samaniego, who had been traveling north.

“He veered to the right, hit the pedestrians on foot, sending them sailing,” said the cabdriver, Michael De Mand of Port Hueneme. “They didn’t see the vehicle at all. Their backs were to the car.”