A judge on Tuesday ordered a Chula Vista driver to stand trial for gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated in the death of a motorist who struck his abandoned Jeep on a freeway.
David Armando Olvera, 30, was also ordered to trial for hit and run with death, and two counts of injuring two other drivers who crashed into Olvera’s abandoned Jeep Cherokee left on a freeway.
Gregory Scott, 40, was driving home on June 17 when he struck the abandoned Jeep at 2:50 a.m. on Interstate 15 just north of Friars Road and was killed. Three other cars also struck the vehicles, and another driver got a concussion.
The blood/alcohol level of Olvera registered at .21, some hours later and was estimated to have been at .30 at the time which is four times the legal limit, according to Deputy District Attorney Andrew Aguilar.
Aguilar said Olvera could face a maximum of 22 years to life in state prison if he is sentenced consecutively and given two years for having two prior drunk driving convictions.
Olvera wore blue jail clothes with a chain around his waist and was handcuffed during the two-day preliminary hearing conducted by San Diego Superior Court Judge Amalia Meza.
Olvera has pleaded not guilty. He remains in the George Bailey Detention Facility. His parents attended the hearing both days.
California Highway Patrol officer Javier Mendoza testified Olvera crashed his Jeep into the center median and then abandoned it in the two lanes of I-15.
CHP officer James McBreaty testified there was an open container of beer in the car in the cup holder, and several empty cans.
The driver’s brown flip flops were left in the driver’s compartment.
CHP officer Brad Clinkscales said Olvera’s parents contacted officers after he showed up at their house after the CHP told them he was wanted for questioning.
Olvera had walked barefoot to their home about a mile from the crash.
Olvera said a bearded man at a bar had driven his car, but had no explanation as to what happened that night, said Clinkscales. Olvera said he woke up in shrubbery off the road and didn’t know what became of the bearded man, whose name he did not know, said Clinkscales.
Clinkscales said Olvera was barefoot when detained and had no explanation as to where he left his flip flops. Olvera failed his sobriety tests and had a lot of brush on his clothes.
Clinkscales said Olvera had a red bruise on his shoulder which is consistent with a driver’s shoulder belt injury. Olvera later said after the crash, he hid in brush off the freeway and heard sounds of the cars crashing into his Jeep, he added.
Clinkscales said he looked at the bar’s video and it showed Olvera briefly talking to a bearded man, but said the footage showed him going into the bar’s parking lot by himself.
A bearded man at the bar notified the CHP several days later to say Olvera was very intoxicated when he left the bar before the crash, said Clinkscales.
The bearded man denied being the driver, he said.
Olvera’s attorney, Charles Millioen, argued it was speculation the Jeep hit the center median that started the chain of events. “There’s too many unanswered questions,” said Millioen.
Aguilar argued Olvera was “drinking a lot of alcohol” that night and left his vehicle in two lanes of the freeway.
Aguilar said Olvera was aware of the dangers of drinking and driving because he attended a Mothers Against Drunk Driving panel when he was convicted of misdemeanor drunk driving.
Meza said the case will go before “a jury to decide” at trial. A trial date will be set on Dec. 19.
