SAN DIEGO (KGTV)-The driver who prosecutors said is to blame for a deadly crash off the Coronado Bridge will stand trial, said a judge Monday.
An accident reconstruction expert testified on the third day of a preliminary hearing for Navy man Richard Sepolio.
The expert, Mike Edwards, who worked for California Highway Patrol at the time, said he investigated 25-year-old Sepolio's cell phone records and was also able to recover text messages sent hours before the crash.
According to Edwards, Sepolio sent a text to a friend that morning, saying he planned to get "white girl wasted" at brunch later that day.
Defense attorney Paul Pfingst said he can prove his client drank responsibly that day.
In October 2016, Sepolio was behind the wheel of a GMC pickup truck when it flew off the bridge and landed on a crowd of people at historic Chicano Park killing Cruz Elias Contreras, 52, Andre Christopher Banks, 49, Annamarie Contreras, 50, and Francine Denise Jimenez, 46.
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The sailor was over the legal limit and was traveling 80 mph when he lost control and drove off the bridge overpass, killing four people and injuring eight more.
In pictures from the crash, Sepolio can be seen holding a cell phone in his hand.
Sepolio will go to trial on charges of gross vehicular manslaughter.
