SAN DIEGO (CNS) - An unlicensed driver who tried to evade police during a high-speed pursuit and crashed into a family's car in Mountain View, killing two young boys in the other vehicle, has pleaded guilty to charges that include two counts of murder.
Angel Velasquez Salgado, 21, is expected to be sentenced to 30 years to life in state prison later this year for the Dec. 8, 2023, crash on an Interstate 805 off-ramp that killed brothers Malikai, 8, and Mason Orozco- Romero, 4.
The boys were riding in the backseat of a sedan that was rear-ended, propelled down an embankment and into a tree, where it caught fire.
Two women in the victims' vehicle, including the boys' mother, were injured, but survived the crash.
On Tuesday, as Salgado was set to go to trial in the case, he pleaded guilty to the murder counts, plus other charges that include hit-and-run causing injury, evading an officer, and driving without a license.
The deadly collision prompted calls to re-examine San Diego police policies regarding vehicle pursuits, and a wrongful death lawsuit was filed by the boys' family that alleges officers should have terminated the pursuit in the interest of public safety.
According to testimony from a three-day preliminary hearing held last year, the officers who pursued Salgado first took notice of a headlight out on his BMW.
The officers testified that after following the BMW for a short while, it abruptly pulled into a residence's driveway on 32nd Street. A records check of the vehicle indicated its registered owner did not live at that address.
When the officers attempted to pull the BMW over, the car sped off and made other unsafe driving maneuvers such as swerving around other cars and running a stop sign.
SDPD Officer Jackson Carroll, who was driving the police vehicle involved in the chase, testified that the BMW's driver was "actively attempting to evade us" by frequently switching lanes, driving onto the shoulder and in an MTS bus lane to get around slower vehicles.
The chase spanned northbound Interstate 15, eastbound state Route 94 and southbound Interstate 805, where Salgado crashed into the victims' vehicle at the 43rd Street off-ramp.
California Highway Patrol Officer Richard Vargas testified that through his investigation of the crash, it was determined that Salgado drove onto the right shoulder of the off-ramp and struck the rear right side of the victims' Honda. The impact sent both vehicles spinning down the embankment.
After the crash, Salgado ran from the BMW and was arrested a short time later at a nearby residence.
Along with charges connected to the fatal crash, Salgado pleaded guilty to hit-and-run causing injury for striking another vehicle earlier in the pursuit and felony evading for a separate San Diego police chase that occurred about seven months before the fatal crash.
Salgado is set to be sentenced on Sept. 4.
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