A suspected DUI driver who allegedly killed an 81-year-old pedestrian and injured a woman and two children in Chula Vista, California, pled not guilty to the charge of vehicular manslaughter and DUI causing injury. Enrique Briseno, 50, took his plea on Wednesday, July 8th.
The crash caused by the man happened on September 30th, 2019, at about 1 p.m. on Fourth Avenue near H Street. Briseno allegedly pushed a parked car into the street, causing it to strike Rene Argoud, who later died in a hospital. An infant in the stationary vehicle and an 8-year-old child leaning into the car sustained minor wounds.
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The accident report showed that the parked car also struck another parked vehicle, leaving a woman injured, and then redirected into Argoud. The defendant’s vehicle later overturned in a nearby driveway, but he came out of it unscathed. Laura Evans, the Deputy District Attorney for San Diego County, alleged that the man was speeding and driving erratically before the accident.
The prosecutor said that a blood test revealed that Briseno had several central nervous system (CNS) antidepressant drugs in his blood. He was not arrested on the day of the crash because the Chula Vista Police were still investigating. The latter revealed that he has a history of driving under the influence.
The day after the crash, on October 1st, 2019, the man was arrested on a DUI charge. He had a .27 BAC and has a pending DUI charge for that offense, as well as two convictions for driving under the influence in Plumas County and San Diego County from 2009.
The defendant is in the county jail on a $200 000 bail bond and will appear in court on Friday, July 10th, for a bail review hearing.
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