Driver Withdraws Plea After Judge Requires Jail in Fatal Crash

Nicholas Joseph Gutierrez withdrew his guilty plea Friday in a Los Angeles County courtroom after a judge rejected a probation-only deal and required at least one year in county jail for his role in a 2022 wrong-way crash that killed one sheriff's recruit and injured 25 others.

The crash occurred on November 16, 2022, along Mills Avenue in Whittier, when Gutierrez's SUV veered onto the wrong side of the road and struck a group of Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department recruits during a morning training run. Recruit Alejandro Martinez-Inzunza died eight months later from his injuries, while 10 others suffered serious harm. Authorities determined Gutierrez likely fell asleep at the wheel, and a yearlong investigation found no evidence the incident was intentional.

Gutierrez, 25, from Diamond Bar, had pleaded guilty last month to one felony count of vehicular manslaughter with gross negligence and nine felony counts of reckless driving causing injury. Prosecutors had agreed to suspend an eight-year prison sentence in exchange for five years of probation, sparing him immediate jail time. However, during Friday's hearing before Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Laura Walton,...