Why was driver suspected of crashing into 25 sheriff’s recruits suddenly set free?
The man whose vehicle reportedly struck two California sheriffs’ Academy recruits at a high school graduation ceremony was charged with vehicular manslaughter and felony hit and run.
Investigators say Richard Martinez had been traveling south on Highway 237 near San Bernardino County in a white Toyota Corolla on Saturday morning when it plowed into the recruits as they stood outside San Bernardino High School, near the corner of Fair Oaks Boulevard and East Diamond Bar Road.
The car veered into a ditch and flipped over, killing the two recruits.
A man has been arrested in connection with a multi-vehicle crash that killed two young recruits at a high school graduation ceremony, local media said, and the driver of the vehicle was later released from jail.
Richard Martinez, a 22-year-old man, was charged with two counts of vehicular manslaughter and one count of hit and run, the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department said Wednesday, as cited by KNBC-TV.
The collision occurred in the San Bernardino County town of San Bernardino on Saturday morning at around 6:30 a.m., the station reported.
A sheriff’s spokesman told KNBC that Sheriff’s Deputy Paul McManus stopped at the intersection of Diamond Bar and Fair Oaks as he drove south on Highway 237.
The station added that McManus then tried to make a U-turn at the light where Martinez slammed into both recruits in a white Toyota Corolla as they attempted to return to San Bernardino High School.
A spokeswoman for the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department confirmed that the man arrested in connection with the collision is Martinez, who was treated for minor injuries and released from jail. She said he is currently being held at a federal detention facility in San Diego.
The news station said that Deputy McManus suffered minor injuries and returned to work shortly after the crash. His attorney told them he was “fine” and had been released earlier today.
The station added
