Coronado-Based Navy Officer Faces Arraignment for Bridge Crash

CORONADO, CA - The Coronado-based Navy petty officer who lost control of his GMC pickup and plunged into a crowded park is expected to be arraigned Wednesday on charges of felony driving while intoxicated and vehicular manslaughter.

The Saturday afternoon crash occurred while the pickup was merging from northbound Interstate 5 onto the bay bridge, according to the California Highway Patrol.

The vehicle plunged about 60 feet into the crowded Chicano Park below, killing Annamarie Contreras, 50, and Cruz Contreras, 52, a married couple from Chandler, Arizona, along with Hacienda Heights residents Andre Banks, 49, and Francine Jimenez, 45. All four were pronounced dead at the scene.

Nine others, including the driver Richard Anthony Sepolio, were hospitalized for treatment of various non-life-threatening injuries.

According to reports, all of the injured people expect Sepolio had been released from the hospital as of Tuesday afternoon.

Coronado Bridge accident update: All of the injured people have been released from the hospital with the exception of the driver. #NBC7
— Vanessa Herrera (@VanessaNBCSD) October 18, 2016

Sepolio, 24, an aviation electronics technician, has been assigned to Helicopter Sea Combat Squadron 6 at Naval Air Station North Island since September 2015, a year after he enlisted, according to the Navy.

RELATED:

• Navy Man Charged with DUI in Deadly Coronado Bridge Crash
• City Council Remembers Victims of Coronado Bridge Crash

- City News Service contributed to this report / Image via Shutterstock