A jury was selected on Thursday for the trial of a motorist who allegedly intentionally ran over and killed a 46-year-old man in Riverside. The accused, Sergio Reynaldo Gutierrez, 33, of Riverside, is facing charges of murder and the use of a deadly weapon – his pickup truck – during the commission of a felony.
Jury selection began on Tuesday and concluded on Thursday morning at the Riverside Hall of Justice. Judge Timothy Hollenhorst swore in the panel and instructed the prosecution and defense to present their opening statements. Testimony is expected to last approximately one week. Gutierrez is currently held at the Robert Presley Jail on $1 million bail.
According to the prosecution’s trial brief, the incident occurred on July 29, 2021. Gutierrez was driving his Ford F-250 on Market Street near the Pomona (60) Freeway underpass when he encountered Benedicto Solanga, who was walking with his bicycle and an unidentified friend in the opposite direction. The brief states that Gutierrez honked the horn, made an offensive gesture towards Solanga, and then made a U-turn to follow him. Suddenly, Gutierrez swerved to the right and struck Solanga from behind, causing him to be thrown into the air and land face down.
The prosecution alleges that Gutierrez fled the scene in his pickup, briefly pursued by witnesses who lost track of him after he ran a red light. The specific motive for Gutierrez’s hostility towards Solanga was not disclosed.
Solanga was taken to the hospital but succumbed to his injuries three days later, according to Riverside police Officer Ryan Railsback. Detectives spent three weeks trying to identify the pickup driver, eventually concluding that it was Gutierrez. A witness who was an officer of the Riverside Auto-Theft Interdiction Detail Task Force provided crucial information, having encountered Gutierrez with the Ford F-250 earlier on the day of the incident, attempting to start the vehicle in the Santa Ana River bottom. The witness reported graffiti on the pickup that read, “Don’t (expletive) With This Truck.”
Gutierrez was apprehended without incident on Aug. 17, 2021, on Sir Bedivere Drive. He does not have any previous felony convictions in Riverside County.
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