A Marine who allegedly led police on a pursuit that ended in an Escondido crash, killing one of his passengers, pleaded not guilty Thursday.
John Eugene Brand, 21, a lance corporal based out of Marine Corps Air Station Miramar, faces multiple charges, including vehicular manslaughter with gross negligence.
Brand allegedly got behind the wheel of a pickup and sped away when police responded Monday to reports that a man and two women were shoplifting at Dick’s Sporting Goods on Auto Park Way.
Escondido officers chased the truck onto Washington Avenue, where the driver tried to make a high-speed turn onto Fig Street but lost control and collided with a retaining wall.
One of the passengers, identified in a criminal complaint as Shevondia Compare-Bell, died after she was taken to a hospital for injuries sustained in the crash.
The other female passenger underwent surgery and is expected to survive, according to police. She told police she asked the driver to pull over several times during the chase, but he refused to let her out of the truck, police said.
Brand allegedly ran from the crash scene, but officers found him hiding about a block away.
Police said the pickup Brand was driving belongs to the U.S. Marine Corps. They also discovered stolen articles of clothing in the truck.
Brand faces up to 18 years and six months in state prison if convicted of all charges.
Along with the manslaughter count, he was charged with evading an officer causing death, evading an officer causing serious injury, kidnapping, false imprisonment, petty theft and driving or taking a vehicle without consent.
The criminal complaint also states that Monday’s alleged offenses were committed while Brand was out on bail in another unspecified felony case out of the South Bay.
He was initially held on $610,000 bail, but a judge denied bail at his Thursday arraignment in Vista. He’s due back in court in February for a hearing to re-examine his bail status.
– City News Service
