Prosecutors provided new details in the case of a Camarillo teen accused of deliberately ramming several vehicles, including a CHP car, last week.
A Camarillo teen accused of carrying out a deliberate hit-and-run spree last week that injured a California Highway Patrol officer, among others, did not appear in court Monday, delaying his arraignment hearing by at least a day.
Carlos Lozano, 18, was arrested May 10 on suspicion of causing a series of crashes that started in his Camarillo apartment complex around 6:50 p.m. and ended on southbound Highway 101 near the top of the Conejo Grade.
"All of these victims are very fortunate to be alive," said Ventura County Senior Deputy District Attorney Joann Roth on Monday. Speeds reportedly hit 80 to 90 mph during the incident, she said, with one couple's vehicle overturned on the freeway as a result of being struck.
"We're very grateful we aren't planning any funerals this week," Roth said.
Prosecutors filed a complaint Monday morning charging Lozano with eight felonies and one misdemeanor.
Seven felony charges are for assault with a deadly weapon, said Roth, who is assigned to crimes against law enforcement officers. The eighth felony charge is for assault with a deadly weapon on a police officer. A misdemeanor hit-and-run charge was filed for the initial incident that started the chain of events, she said.
Roth said she did not file a charge for each hit-and-run collision. But there are charges for each of the nine "separate and distinct" victims, she said, including the teen's parents.
Lozano's defense attorney, David Lehr, said because of attorney-client privilege he could not specify why Lozano wasn't in court Monday. Court records indicate the judge found good cause not to have the defendant transported to court.
Lehr said it is "unusual" for a person not to be transported from jail to court. Generally speaking, that happens when there is a safety reason involving a medical or mental health issue, he said. Sometimes, a defendant just doesn't want to leave his or her cell, but Lehr said in his 25 years experience, "people don't object to being taken out of cells unless there are mental health issues going on."
The arraignment hearing, the first formal court proceeding after an arrest, was postponed until Tuesday afternoon. In California, the law requires those in custody on felony charges to be arraigned within 48 hours of being arrested, not counting weekends and holidays.
Statutorily, Lehr said, Lozano was supposed to be arraigned Monday. But it wasn't clear late Monday afternoon whether Lozano would be able to make Tuesday's scheduled hearing either, he said.
"The only thing the court can do is delay the case day by day until he is medically able to come to court," Lehr said.
When that happens, a not guilty plea is likely. It's "extremely rare" for the defense to plead anything else, Lehr said. "I can't get the police report until the not guilty plea is entered," he said.
The Ventura County Sheriff's Office said the incident began around 6:50 p.m. at an apartment complex in the 700 block of Paseo Camarillo.
There, Lozano allegedly took his mother's SUV and struck two parked vehicles in the complex, authorities allege. When Lozano left, his parents came out to talk to the owners of the damaged vehicles about what to do. Lozano returned and "deliberately drove the SUV toward his parents," who had to jump out of the way to avoid getting hit, officials said.
He then crashed into a third parked vehicle and hit a support pillar in the carport, causing significant damage, sheriff's officials allege. On southbound Highway 101, he reportedly hit a vehicle on Carmen Drive and another at Pleasant Valley Road.
Lozano continued southbound, where a CHP officer had parked on the Conejo Grade to help a motorist who'd run out of gas. He allegedly hit both vehicles, causing extensive damage and injuring the officer and motorist, the sheriff's office reported.
Roth, the prosecutor, offered additional details Monday.
On the 101 near Carmen Drive, Lozano allegedly hit a Honda and a Nissan, then intentionally collided with a BMW.
On the grade, as he neared the parked CHP vehicle, an eyewitness on the freeway allegedly saw the defendant make a "beeline" from the fast lane "directly at the police officer," Roth said.
There happened to be an Explorer with two Nevada occupants in the slow lane, she said.
Lozano allegedly hit the Explorer before he struck the CHP vehicle, she said. The collision with the Explorer, which overturned as a result, appeared unintentional.
"What saved the police officer was that vehicle," which reportedly blocked the path of Lozano's SUV, she said. The couple was reportedly badly injured, she said.
The District Attorney's victim services department is trying to contact the Nevada couple to offer them help with local housing, transportation, home and other emergency needs, Roth said.
As of Monday evening, Lozano remained in Ventura County jail with bail set at $250,000, jail records showed.