A Diamond Bar man who previously had pleaded guilty to driving into a group of law enforcement trainees near Whittier, killing a Los Angeles County sheriff’s recruit, backed out of the plea deal Friday when a judge indicated she planned to send him to jail for a year as part of his sentence.
Nicholas Joseph Gutierrez, 25, pleaded guilty last month to one felony count of vehicular manslaughter with gross negligence and nine felony counts of reckless driving causing injury, according to the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office.
Under the plea deal, he was expected to receive five years probation and a suspended eight-year state prison term that he would only face if he violated any of the terms of his probation. In court Friday, however, Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Laura Walton said she planned to add a 365-day jail term to his sentence. Gutierrez’s attorneys said they could not accept that condition, and withdrew from the plea deal, meaning the case will now move toward trial.
His attorneys also said Gutierrez was suffering from a neurological disorder.
Gutierrez is due back in court Aug. 26 for a pretrial hearing.
The charges stem from a Nov. 16, 2022, crash in which 76 members of Sheriff’s Academy Class 464 were on a training run along Mills Avenue near Bentongrove Drive when Gutierrez, driving southbound in an unincorporated area near Whittier, crossed into northbound lanes and struck members of the group, prosecutors said.
Twenty-five recruits were injured, including 10 who suffered serious injuries. One of them, Alejandro Martinez-Inzunza, 27, died from his injuries on July 28, 2023, according to the District Attorney’s Office.
Gutierrez was initially arrested hours after the crash, but was released a day later, with sheriff’s officials saying the complex case needed more extensive investigation. He was re-arrested in November 2023 by the California Highway Patrol and released on $500,000 bond within less than two hours.
Authorities said a yearlong investigation found no evidence the crash was intentional and determined that Gutierrez likely fell asleep at the wheel before drifting into the recruits.
In January, Gutierrez waived his right to a jury trial, meaning his case will be decided by a judge if the case makes it to trial.