Man Pleads Not Guilty In Deadly Wrong-Way Torrance Crash

REDONDO BEACH, CA – A 22-year-old man from San Diego pleaded not guilty Thursday to felony charges stemming from a deadly wrong-way crash that killed a motorcyclist on the San Diego (405) Freeway in Torrance last month.

Gabriel Anthony Fajardo could face up to 10 years in state prison if convicted of one felony count each of gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated, driving under the influence of an alcoholic beverage causing injury and driving with a 0.08 percent blood-alcohol content causing injury, along with an allegation that he inflicted great bodily injury.

Fajardo was behind the wheel of a pickup truck that was traveling northbound in a southbound carpool lane near Artesia Boulevard on Feb. 4 when the vehicle crashed into Nicholas Phillip Mann, 57, according to the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office.

He is due back in a Torrance courtroom April 30, when a date is scheduled to be set for a hearing to determine if there is enough evidence to require him to stand trial.

Fajardo is free on $100,000 bail.

City News Service and Patch staffer Emily Holland contributed to this post; Image via Shutterstock