Judge won’t reduce bail or turn driver in Coronado bridge crash over to military

A judge on Wednesday denied a request to reduce bail for a Navy man accused of driving drunk and plunging off the San Diego-Coronado Bridge last month, killing four people.

Richard Anthony Sepolio, 24, remains held in county jail in lieu of $2 million bail. He faces four counts of gross vehicular manslaughter and DUI charges, stemming from the Oct. 15 incident in Chicano Park.

Sepolio is a Navy aviation technician stationed at Naval Air Station North Island in Coronado.

At the bail review hearing, San Diego County Superior Court Judge Frederick Maguire also denied a defense lawyer’s request to place the defendant in the care of the military because of his medical issues.

Attorney Paul Pfingst said he wanted his client transferred to the Navy base “so that he could receive the surgical attention he needs and is not getting in jail.”

Sepolio, who appeared in court wearing a neck brace, has fractured vertebrae and ribs and a broken hand, Pfingst said.

Sepolio is accused of losing control of his pickup while transitioning from northbound Interstate 5 onto the bridge. The truck crashed through a barrier wall next to traffic lanes and landed in the park, which was packed with about 3,000 people.

Cruz Contreras, 52, and his wife, Annamarie Contreras, 50, of Chandler, Ariz., were killed, as were Andre Banks, 49, and his wife, Francine Jimenez, 46, of Hacienda Heights.

Sepolio and three other people were hospitalized with major injuries; five others were treated for lesser injuries.

Deputy Dist. Atty. Cally Bright had said at Sepolio’s arraignment that he had a 0.08% blood-alcohol level half an hour after the crash. That is the legal limit for drivers in California.

Pfingst said Wednesday that Sepolio was given a breath test shortly after the incident that showed his blood-alcohol content measured 0.05%, and a second test a minute later that measured 0.06%.

An hour later, a blood test showed his level was 0.08%.

Pfingst stressed that the earliest test — the one that happened nearest to the time of the crash — showed Sepolio was not under the influence at the time he was driving the pickup.

“No evidence shows that his driving was anything other than him trying to avoid another driver on the bridge,” the attorney said in an interview after the hearing.

Sepolio has pleaded not guilty to the charges. He faces up to 23 years and eight months in prison if convicted.

dana.littlefield@sduniontribune.com

Littlefield writes for the San Diego Union-Tribune

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