BAY POINT (BCN) — A 21-year-old Bay Point man accused of killing one and injuring eight others when he allegedly backed his truck up outside of a Bay Point restaurant earlier this month pleaded not guilty in a Martinez courtroom Wednesday.
Martin Bretado-Munoz is facing charges of vehicular manslaughter and multiple counts of DUI with injury. Those charges could be escalated if any of the eight surviving victims succumbs to their injuries, Deputy District Attorney Diana Weiss said.
Depending on the extent of the injuries, Weiss said Bretado-Munoz could be charged with added special circumstances for causing great bodily injury.
“It depends on what happens at the preliminary hearing,” Weiss said. “I’m in the process of obtaining medical records.”
Bretado-Munoz is being held on a $750,000 bail, according to superior court Judge John C. Minney.
His lawyer, public defender Kira Klement, asked for a bail reduction hearing, which is scheduled for May 20. She pointed to the back row of the courtroom, where family and friends of Bretado-Munoz stood solemnly.
His family declined to comment about the case.
-Munoz allegedly backed up a full-size truck into a group of people at high speeds in the parking lot of La Finca Restaurant, located at 706 Port Chicago Highway, around 2 a.m. on May 2, according to sheriff’s spokesman Jimmy Lee.
He allegedly drove into two other cars and tried to leave the scene, but security guards stopped him before deputies arrived, Lee said.
Deputies responded to the scene and found nine victims, who were transported to one of four hospitals throughout the Bay Area, according to Lee.
Soon after being transported to John Muir Medical Center in Walnut Creek, San Pablo resident Laura Sanchez Gomez died. She was 24 years old.
The family of Sanchez Gomez has launched a GoFundMe campaign to support her family, according to the site. As of this afternoon, it had raised more than $4,000 out of a $10,000 goal.
More information about the campaign can be found at http://www.gofundme.com/tkf9jc?pc14-tw-1.