{"id":46450,"date":"2013-12-04T15:32:01","date_gmt":"2013-12-04T23:32:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/theavtimes.com\/?p=46450"},"modified":"2013-12-09T17:42:10","modified_gmt":"2013-12-10T01:42:10","slug":"palmdale-teen-ordered-to-trial-in-fatal-motorcycle-crash","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/theavtimes.com\/2013\/12\/04\/palmdale-teen-ordered-to-trial-in-fatal-motorcycle-crash\/","title":{"rendered":"Palmdale teen ordered to trial in fatal motorcycle crash"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"The<\/a>
The fatal crash happened around 3:10 p.m., Saturday, Oct. 19 on Elizabeth Lake Road, just east of Godde Hill Road. Jose Gutierrez was arrested at the scene. (Photos courtesy LUIS MEZA)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

LANCASTER \u2013 A 19-year-old Palmdale driver who slammed into a group of motorcyclists on Oct. 19 told investigators he sped around the curve intentionally because he was \u201cpumped up\u201d after overtaking several vehicles on the winding Elizabeth Lake road, according to witness testimony.<\/p>\n

The testimony came Wednesday at the preliminary hearing for Jose Gutierrez<\/strong>, who is charged with vehicular manslaughter and three counts of reckless driving causing specified injury.\u00a0 The charges stem from a head-on collision Oct. 19 on Elizabeth Lake Road that killed 58-year-old Oxnard resident Peter Volden<\/strong> and critically injured three others.<\/p>\n

\"58-year-old<\/a>
58-year-old Oxnard resident Peter Volden was killed in the collision.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Gutierrez was driving a 2001 Infiniti G20 eastbound on the two-lane road when he lost control of his car, veered into the oncoming lane, and crashed head-on into three westbound motorcycles, according to a California Highway Patrol report.<\/p>\n

At Wednesday\u2019s preliminary hearing, CHP officers and the three injured victims \u2013 Danny Rincon<\/strong>, Richard<\/strong> and Patricia McBee<\/strong> \u2013 gave testimony on the moments before and after the crash.<\/p>\n

She and her husband\u00a0were on the last bike in a group of seven motorcycles headed home after a picnic at Devil\u2019s Punchbowl, testified a now wheelchair-bound Patricia McBee.<\/p>\n

\u201c[Gutierrez] was hauling, enough to make me notice he was speeding around that corner,\u201d Patricia McBee said, when asked about the speed of the oncoming car.<\/p>\n

\"Danny<\/a>
Danny Rincon (far left), Patricia McBee (second from right), and Richard McBee (far right), shown with Volden (second from left). The three injured victims testified at a preliminary hearing Dec. 4.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cI saw the car swerve and I knew then that we were in trouble,\u201d Patricia McBee testified. She said she remembered being struck and thrown over the car.<\/p>\n

\u201cThrough my helmet I could see things tumbling,\u201d she said, adding that she was fully conscious when she hit the ground.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt knocked the wind out of me so bad, and I thought I was gonna die because I couldn\u2019t breathe,\u201d Patricia McBee testified.<\/p>\n

Richard McBee said he did not remember being struck by the car, but he remembered being face up on the ground with his wife lying across his legs at a 90-degree angle. He was on the road for about 15 minutes, only able to move his finger and toes, before help came, Richard McBee testified.<\/p>\n

The third victim, Danny Rincon, said he remembered a car speeding around the corner and crossing into their lane after a \u201cseries of overcorrections.\u201d Rincon said there was no time for him to react, and he could only close his eyes and flinch.<\/p>\n

\u201cI thought it was my moment,\u201d Rincon testified.<\/p>\n

CHP Officer K. Wheeler said he interviewed Gutierrez after the crash. The teen said he had passed four vehicles before the crash, and he was \u201cpumped up\u201d after having passed the vehicles, Wheeler testified.<\/p>\n

Gutierrez told investigators he was traveling about 75 miles per hour, he had intentionally passed cars prior to the crash, and he had intentionally sped around the corner, Wheeler testified. The teen also told investigators he had his driver\u2019s license for approximately one year and friends had warned him about speeding in the past, Wheeler testified.<\/p>\n

Gutierrez\u2019s defense attorney argued that some of the charges should be reduced or dismissed based on his client\u2019s inexperience behind the wheel and the fact that Gutierrez could not have foreseen the crash.<\/p>\n

Judge Christopher Estes denied the motion and ordered Gutierrez to stand trial on all charges. A second arraignment on the case is set for Dec. 20. If convicted as charged, Gutierrez faces a maximum sentence of eight years in state prison.<\/p>\n

Previous related stories:<\/p>\n

Teen charged with manslaughter in motorcycle crash<\/a><\/p>\n

1 dead, three injured in motorcycle group crash<\/a><\/p>\n

–<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

LANCASTER \u2013 A 19-year-old Palmdale driver who slammed into a group of motorcyclists on Oct. 19 told investigators he sped around the curve intentionally because he was \u201cpumped up\u201d after overtaking several vehicles on the winding Elizabeth Lake road, according to witness testimony. The testimony came Wednesday at the preliminary hearing for Jose Gutierrez, who […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":44725,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[719],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/theavtimes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46450"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/theavtimes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/theavtimes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theavtimes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theavtimes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=46450"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/theavtimes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46450\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theavtimes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/44725"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/theavtimes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=46450"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theavtimes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=46450"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theavtimes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=46450"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}