Vicky Arias, FISM News
The driver accused of crashing his vehicle into 25 law enforcement recruits in Whittier, California, was released from custody on Thursday.
The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department had arrested Nicholas Joseph Gutierrez, 22, on Wednesday and charged him with attempted murder on a peace officer, with additional charges pending. Police released him the following day, citing California Penal Code 849(B)(1), which states that an arrested person should be released if there are “insufficient grounds for making a criminal complaint.”
Gutierrez allegedly drove his SUV into a group of law enforcement recruits during one of their training exercises on Wednesday morning. About 75 recruits were on a morning run, jogging in the area of Mills Avenue and Telegraph Road in Whittier when an SUV crossed onto the wrong side of the street and crashed into the group.
According to LA County Fire Department spokesperson, Capt. Sheila Kelliher, the recruits “were running, doing their morning training exercise when this person ran into them.”
The crash injured a total of 25 recruits, landing five in critical condition. Injuries include severe head injury, dislocated knees and shoulders, and fractured bones.
In a press conference, Capt. Pat MacDonald explained that the SUV struck a light pole, stopping it from striking more recruits.
Los Angeles County Sheriff, Alex Villanueva, expressed that detectives believe the crash was an intentional act based on video surveillance of the accident, interviews they’ve conducted, and physical evidence that’s been collected.
According to CNN, “the driver, who was going the wrong way, showed no sign of impairment…and blew a zero in a Breathalyzer test administered at the scene. There were [also] no skid marks visible at the site of the crash.”
Villanueva voiced concerns about the prosecution in the case.
In an interview with News Nation Now, Villanueva stated that law enforcement “operate[s] under prosecutor George Gascón [and] we definitely have grave concerns about his ability to prosecute.”
Democrat George Gascon, the Los Angeles County District Attorney who is backed by billionaire George Soros, has received criticism for what some view as a soft-on-crime approach to law enforcement. Gascon has instituted many changes to criminal legal procedures since he’s been in office.
According to the New York Times, Gascon “mandated an end to seeking cash bail, the death penalty, the sentence of life without parole and the prosecution of anyone younger than 18 as an adult. And in a rare, if not unprecedented, move by an American prosecutor, Gascón declared his intent to effectively end very long sentences — in pending cases as well as new ones — for some of the most serious crimes, including murder.”
The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department announced Thursday that “homicide investigators intend to present [the] case to the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office [on] Friday for filing considerations.”