SAN DIEGO — Angel Salgado entered a plea of not guilty at his arraignment Wednesday in the Downtown San Diego courthouse.
The 20-year-old is accused of causing a crash that killed two little brothers and seriously injured their mom and a family friend.
It happened last Friday night. Police said they tried to pull Salgado over for a traffic violation in Logan Heights, but he took off.
“The defendant, who does not have a driver's license, failed to yield and then led the police officers on an extremely dangerous five mile, five minute long chase,” said Deputy District Attorney Jessica Cota.
Cota added that Salgado rear-ended a car when he first sped away from officers, injuring an elderly woman. Instead of stopping, he drove away.
The chase headed south on I-805, and when Salgado tried to get off the freeway at 43rd Street, his actions ended in a horrific tragedy.
“He accelerated away from the police at speeds of up to 100 miles per hour,” Cota said in court. “He rear-ended the victim vehicle causing both his car and the victim vehicle to careen off the embankment. Victim car hit a tree and burst into flames.”
Eight-year-old Malikai Orozco-Romero and his little brother, 4-year-old Mason, died from their injuries.
Their mom suffered critical injuries and a family friend driving the car suffered burns to her face. Despite seeing the car he hit on fire, Cota said Salgado did nothing to help them.
“He then ran past the burning car and removed clothing items to conceal his identity as the victims inside the car - which was on fire - suffered massive injuries.”
Salgado faces several felony charges including two counts of murder and is being held without bail. If convicted on all charges, he could face at least 30 years to life in prison. He’s scheduled to return to court in February for a preliminary hearing.
The family friend who was injured in the crash has since been released from the hospital and was in court for today’s hearing. The boys’ mom remains hospitalized in the ICU. She has broken vertebrae and it’s still not known if she is paralyzed.
A GoFundMe page created by the boys' godmother states that their father died about a year ago and their mother had been dealing with ongoing medical issues around the time of the crash.
"Everyone who knows these kids know no matter what they were going through they always carried a beautiful smile on their face. This tragedy isn't fair," the page reads. The full page can be viewed at gofundme.com/f/malikai- and-mason.
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