The driver of a vehicle who refused to pull over for federal agents and eventually crashed near Boulevard was ordered June 4 to stand trial for killing three people who were fatally injured.
U.S. Border Patrol agents were among the witnesses in the case against Luis Alberto Virgen, 21, who is charged with three counts of murder and three counts of gross vehicular manslaughter.
El Cajon Superior Court Judge Jeff Fraser conducted the nearly two-day preliminary hearing and ordered Virgen to next appear in court on June 18 to set a trial date.
A motorist, Greg Curtis, testified June 3 he saw Virgen’s truck speeding at approximately 100 mph on Interstate 8 in the rain and was followed by Border Patrol agents on Nov. 29, 2018.
Curtis pulled out his cell phone and recorded some of the chase and it was played in court.
“I certainly noticed the fact that the truck was sitting extremely low in the back,” said Curtis.
Virgen refused to pull over after Border Patrol agents at¬tempted to stop his vehicle after it got onto Interstate 8 from Buckman Springs Road.
A spike strip was placed on the road and his truck drove over it while it was raining.
The vehicle overturned, ejecting all 10 people east of Crest¬wood Road on a dirt and rock embankment.
Erika Gonzalez-Cardoso, 38, was killed from multiple blunt force injuries. The other two killed were Jorge Garcia-Isordia, 22, and Celerino Jimenez-Flores, 34, according to the county medical examiner’s office.
Deputy District Attorney Clayton Carr said Virgen is charged with murder because he acted with conscious disregard for life, which is one element to prove second-degree murder.
If Virgen is convicted, he faces a prison term of 45 years to life. He is a U.S. citizen who was living in Tijuana at the time.
Several months ago, other im¬migrants who were in the truck and were injured testified in a conditional exam hearing as they were not going to be avail¬able at the preliminary hearing.
Virgen has pleaded not guilty and remains in jail on $3 million bail.
