Man Pleads Not Guilty in Deadly Wrong
A Montclair man pleaded not guilty Wednesday to murder and other charges for allegedly leading police on a chase that ended in a wrong-way rollover crash on the San Bernardino (10) Freeway in Pomona that left two men dead.
Erick Daniel Bolanos, now 31, was charged Oct. 7 with two counts of murder and one count each of fleeing a pursuing peace officer's vehicle causing serious bodily injury and carrying a concealed weapon in a vehicle, according to the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office.
The charges include allegations that the defendant inflicted great bodily injury and that the firearm was loaded but not registered to him and that unexpended ammunition was in the immediate possession of the defendant, according to the District Attorney's Office.
Officers from the Pomona Police Department were pursuing a black BMW X6 on the westbound freeway at about 4:45 p.m. Oct. 4 when the driver began going the wrong way near Kellogg Drive, lost control and crashed into a dirt berm, CHP Officer Sergio Garcia told City News Service.
The BMW rolled several times onto the transition road from the northbound Chino Valley (71) Freeway, Garcia said. The driver, identified as Bolanos, was quickly taken into custody, police said.
Two passengers inside the BMW were ejected in the crash and were pronounced dead at the scene, authorities said. They were subsequently identified as Jose Caudillo, 38, and Joey Gomez, 34, who both died from blunt traumatic injuries, according to the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner's Office.
A third passenger, a 45-year-old man, sustained non-life-threatening injuries to his abdomen and was taken to Pomona Valley Hospital for treatment, police said.
A 44-year-old woman was driving a white Toyota C-HR on the transition road when her vehicle was struck by debris from the BMW, but she was not injured.
The California Highway Patrol said the crash was being investigated by the California Highway Patrol Baldwin Park Area office, with the assistance of CHP Southern Division Multidisciplinary Accident Investigation Team.
Bolanos has remained behind bars since his arrest, jail records show.
