A judge on May 11 refused to set any bail for the alleged drunk driver who is charged with killing two people in a minivan on Rosecrans Street on Saturday night (May 8).
Deputy District Attorney Cally Bright said Edgar Jesus Suarez, 33, was driving between 70-80 mph in the Midway District while under the influence of alcohol and cocaine around 9 p.m.
His Toyota Tacoma was speeding on Sports Arena Boulevard and it struck a median. It became airborne before landing on top of a family minivan which killed a grandmother, Suad Alsamarai, 81, and her grandson, Ahmed Mazin Salah Alrawi, 23.
Bright told San Diego Superior Court Judge Laura Halgren that two other family members in the minivan suffered spinal fractures and were hospitalized.
The prosecutor said witnesses saw Suarez “revving his engine and squealing his tires,” in the area while also making U-turns.
“He’s never had a driver’s license,” said Bright, who added that Suarez was convicted in Long Beach of driving without a license.
“It appeared to the officers he was living out of the vehicle,” said Bright, who urged the judge to deny bail, saying “the risk to the public is far too great.”
She said Suarez’s blood/alcohol level was .16, which was taken three hours after the crash at a hospital. Suarez suffered a fractured vertebra and was seen from a room in jail on video in jail clothes.
His attorney, Stephen Trenholme, asked the judge to set “reasonable bail.”
Halgren said if she set bail, she could order him not to drink alcohol, but that isn’t good enough to counter the risk to the public. She also said he was a flight risk, as he has no local address.
“He will be held without bail,” said Halgren.
Suarez pleaded not guilty to two counts of gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated, driving under the influence of alcohol and cocaine, and driving under the influence with injury to others.
Bright said if Suarez is convicted of all charges, he could face 14 years and 8 months in state prison. A preliminary hearing was set for May 24.
Suarez remains in the central jail.
