During his first court appearance on vehicular manslaughter and drunk driving charges, the motorist accused of causing then fleeing a Colma crash that split his car in two and killed three had his bail hiked to $1 million.
Prosecutor Sean Gallagher declined to specify a blood alcohol content for Paul Michael Anthony Diaz, 25, but believe he was intoxicated at the time of the early Monday morning that killed three, including his reported girlfriend.
Forensic testing of his hair for drugs is ongoing, according to Gallagher.
Diaz was arraigned Thursday afternoon on three counts of gross vehicular manslaughter with intoxication and a prior misdemeanor drunk driving conviction and felony hit-and-run resulting in death or injury to others.
Any further indication Diaz was also under the influence of drugs wouldn’t add any extra charges but could bolster the case against him.
At the hearing, Diaz was appointed an attorney but put off a plea until he returns to court June 13.
He has been held on $750,000 bail since his May 27 arrest but the bond was increased yesterday after Gallagher cited public safety.
Diaz fled the 7:40 a.m. crash on Hillside Boulevard near the Cypress Lawn Funeral Home but surrendered to Daly City police about five hours later. Investigators have released few details of how the actual collision happened other than the speeding Mustang hit the back of a Honda, pushing it into the cemetery. The mustang hit a retaining wall and split in two, ejecting and killing Ruvin Abel Vazquez, 22, Jonathan Jade Mouton, 21, and Rosa Maria Falla, 23, all of Daly City. Falla and Diaz were reportedly dating.
The Honda’s driver was not seriously injured.
Along with his 2009 DUI conviction, Diaz’s criminal record includes robbery.
(650) 344-5200 ext. 102
Please purchase a Premium Subscription to continue reading.
To continue, please log in, or sign up for a new account.
We offer one free story view per month. If you register for an account, you will get two additional story views. After those three total views, we ask that you support us with a subscription.
A subscription to our digital content is so much more than just access to our valuable content. It means you’re helping to support a local community institution that has, from its very start, supported the betterment of our society. Thank you very much!
Only subscribers can view and post comments on articles.
Already a subscriber? Login Here
“Side-splittingly funny and brilliantly chaotic” Read moreThe Play That Goes Wrong
Dirk van Ulden said:
LittleFoot said:
Good luck. There is no more selfish + ugly community than Burlingame.
Success! An email has been sent to with a link to confirm list signup.
Error! There was an error processing your request.
Sorry, an error occurred.
Already Subscribed!
Cancel anytime
Thank you .
Your account has been registered, and you are now logged in.
Check your email for details.
Submitting this form below will send a message to your email with a link to change your password.
An email message containing instructions on how to reset your password has been sent to the email address listed on your account.
No promotional rates found.
Secure & Encrypted
Thank you.
Your gift purchase was successful! Your purchase was successful, and you are now logged in.
| Rate: | |
| Begins: | |
| Transaction ID: |
A receipt was sent to your email.
(0) comments
Welcome to the discussion.
Log In
Keep the discussion civilized. Absolutely NO personal attacks or insults directed toward writers, nor others who make comments.
Keep it clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd, racist or sexually-oriented language.
Don't threaten. Threats of harming another person will not be tolerated.
Be truthful. Don't knowingly lie about anyone or anything.
Be proactive. Use the 'Report' link on each comment to let us know of abusive posts.
PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK.
Anyone violating these rules will be issued a warning. After the warning, comment privileges can be revoked.