One Injured, Passenger Killed in San Marcos Auto Accident
A suspected car thief was hospitalized on August 6 following a San Diego County car crash that killed his passenger as the vehicle he was in was being pursue by sheriff's deputies in San Marcos. The auto accident occurred off the eastbound side of San Diego's State Route 78, east of Nordahl Road, just before 8 p.m. on August 5. The pursuit happened just moments earlier when deputies had spotted a stolen two-door Honda Accord by Center Drive and Nordahl Road in Escondido.
The vehicle had been reported stolen earlier in the day from another area of San Marcos, according to sheriff's Sgt. Charles Cinnamo. In the midst of the car chase it appeared as though the driver of the Honda was not familiar with how to handle a manual transmission vehicle, and lost control of it on the highway of the chase that lasted merely a quarter mile. The car chase ended when the Honda slid off the freeway across a dirt path, struck a tree and flew into a concrete drainage ditch, ejecting both the driver and the passenger. The driver, Gumersindo Gutierrez, 19, has been seriously injured in the San Diego car chase but is expected to survive.
The passenger was identified as Guillermo Ceja, 23, who died at Palomar Medical Center at 11:36 p.m. Deputies recovered a stolen car stereo and a loaded handgun in Ceja's possession. Gutierrez faces charges that will include vehicular burglary, possession of stolen property, felony evading, driving under the influence and vehicular manslaughter.
Ross Jurewitz is a San Marcos car accident attorney representing people seriously injured, or the families of people killed, by San Diego County auto accidents, commercial truck wrecks, and motorcycle crashes. The San Diego, CA personal injury lawyers of the Jurewitz Law Group handle injury accident cases throughout California. You can contact his office at (888) 233-5020 or you can contact these injury lawyers online here.
