A driver was hospitalized Tuesday after his car struck a hydrant, creating a 40-foot geyser, and slammed head-on into a tire store in National City.

The collision happened at 2:40 a.m. at East Plaza Boulevard and Euclid Avenue, east of Interstate 805.

The silver Ford sedan clipped a hydrant and then continued approximately 100 yards into the store.

The Firestone Tire and Auto Center bay door crumpled under the impact.

The driver was taken from the scene in an ambulance. No word on his condition.

San Diego Police detectives are investigating a woman's claim that she was attacked Tuesday by the driver of a ride-hailing service.

The incident was reported just before 4 a.m. by a woman at South Meadowbrook Street in Bay Terraces, according to San Diego Police.

The woman went to a gas station to call for help, according to police, but it's not clear where the incident may have occurred.

Police were investigating the report.

No other information was immediately available.

Check back for updates on this breaking news story. 

Two men have been arrested on charges of murder in the killing of a teenage girl two months ago in an Oceanside Park.

Annebell Flores was shot and killed September 3 at Balderrama Park.

Oceanside Police Officers found the 15-year-old at 2:30 a.m., on her back in the playground area of the park. She had suffered at least one gunshot wound.

Daniel Ramos, 20, and Elias Ramos, 20, both of Oceanside were arrested Friday on suspicion of murder and related charges, police announced Tuesday.

The two defendants were already in jail on unrelated charges, police said.

The San Diego Registrar of Voters is calling for bilingual volunteers to step forward for Election Day.

Poll workers are needed in Bostonia, Carlsbad, El Cajon, Encinitas, Poway, Santee, Solana Beach, and University City, and bilingual volunteers fluent in English and one of the following languages are need in the associated neighborhoods:

Chinese: Carlsbad, Centre City in downtown San Diego, Encinitas, Oceanside

Filipino: Del Dios, Escondido, Oceanside, Poway, Spring Valley, Valley Center

Spanish: Fallbrook, Lemon Grove, Poway, Santee, Spring Valley

Vietnamese: Del Dios, El Cajon, Encanto, Escondido, La Mesa, Lakeside, Lemon Grove, Linda Vista, Mira Mesa, Normal Heights, Paradise Hills, Poway, Rancho Peñasquitos, San Marcos, San Ysidro, Santee, Serra Mesa, Spring Valley, Vista

The Registrar’s Office is also recruiting volunteers fluent in Khmer, Japanese, Korean and Hindi.

Stipends of $100 to $175 are offered to poll workers depending on their assignment, and specifically-assigned bilingual volunteers receive an additional $15.

Poll workers must be registered voters in California, or permanent residents of the United States with transportation to their assigned polling location. A two-hour class and additional online training is necessary.

The Presidential Election is Tuesday, November 8.

Click here to apply to be a poll worker.

A 10-year-old San Diego girl will show off her culinary skills on television Tuesday as she competes on a program designed for mini chefs-in-training. 

Point Loma resident Ashley Carter will appear in an episode of the Food Network show, “Chopped Junior,” airing at 8 p.m. PT.

The fifth grade student at Richard Henry Dana Middle School has been interested in cooking for much of her life, her mother, Megan Carter, told NBC 7. Her skills really began to blossom about two years ago, when she began cooking more on her own.

“She’s really into California fresh-style food and seafood,” Megan explained. “She also makes lunches for herself and her younger sister for school every day and the meals always have to be balanced.

“She’s a stickler about buying all organic,” Megan added. “So our trips to the grocery store are long because she really has to think about everything we’re buying.”

Ashley told NBC 7 her school lunches are nothing fancy, but always delicious.

Megan’s memories of Ashley’s passion in the kitchen include her daughter baking for the holidays and always wanting to make the cake for her family members’ birthday parties. Megan said Ashley also used to help make baby food for her little sister. 

Megan said Ashley’s father has worked in French restaurants throughout his life, so this may have influenced her interest and talents as a young chef. Recently, Ashley has taken over making her dad’s signature dish: steamed clams and mussels with ginger.

"It's really, really good," Ashley added.

Megan and Ashley discovered “Chopped Junior” on Netflix and, as Megan noticed Ashley’s culinary skills developing, she applied her daughter for the show.

The competition includes four young chefs who are given baskets of mystery ingredients from which they must create an appetizer, entrée and dessert in 30 minutes. After each course, one contestant is eliminated – or “chopped” – until one is left standing.

Megan said the filming of the show went by quickly, so Ashley didn’t really have time to get nervous on camera. The mother said her daughter was calm, cool and collected on the episode.

“She was so poised and articulate,” Megan said. “She’s an old soul.”

Ashley said the reason she loves cooking so much is because it allows her to be as creative as she wants to be.

"There are no limitations in cooking," she explained. "You can do so much in the kitchen -- even without directions or a recipe."

Ashley and her family will watch Tuesday’s episode of “Chopped Junior” surrounded by family, friends and their community at a viewing party hosted by Raglan Public House (1851 Bacon St.) in Ocean Beach. The eatery will screen the episode twice – at 5 p.m. and 7 p.m. – and Megan said the event will also double as a fundraiser to support Ashley’s middle school and Ocean Beach Elementary School, with some proceeds from sales and Happy Hour specials going to the schools.

Though only 10, Ashley said she sees herself continuing down the culinary path for many years to come, perhaps following in her dad's footsteps in the restaurant industry.

"I get so much enjoyment out of cooking," she said. "I really love it."

More than a million people in San Diego have applied for mail-in ballots this year—a record number for the county, according to the Registrar of Voters.

People are lining up at drop-off locations to turn in their mail-in ballots early. For many, a lack of trust in the postal service is bringing them out—making sure that their vote counts on Nov. 8.

“This is the only place I trust and I don’t trust the post office,” said voter David Sawyer.

“I’m going to be out of the country on the eighth so I want to make sure I do my civic duty and get it done. And also, I don’t trust the by-mail,” said El Cajon resident David Swearingen.

There are a total of 25 drop-off locations set up across San Diego County. Michael Vu, from the Registrar of Voters in San Diego says they have been receiving calls from many of those locations, asking for more boxes to accommodate the record number of voters.

“In terms of registration, in terms of contests on the ballot, in terms of measures on the ballot, in terms of total number of mail ballots we sent out, we’ve never gone to a seven figure number that we’ve sent out mail ballots to,” Vu said. “Of the 1.6 million registered voters, we have sent out over a million mail ballots. We’ve never sent out a million mail ballot in a presidential election before and any other prior elections.”

Vu added that if you want to turn in your mail-in ballot on Nov. 8, do it at a designated drop-off location and not your assigned polling place to avoid long lines. He also advised that if you will be voting on Election Day, know what is on the ballot ahead of time and start early in case of any issues.

“I made a mistake on my ballot, so I had to come back and get it corrected—had to get a new ballot,” one voter told NBC 7.

Out of the million people who requested mail-in ballots, Vu says approximately 300,000 of them have already submitted their ballots.

Tuesday, Nov. 1 is the deadline to request mail-in ballots.

Kids in San Diego County can “sell” their Halloween candy to dentists and physicians across San Diego County to, in turn, be shipped to military members serving overseas.

Called the Candy Buy Back Program, young trick-or-treaters can take their unopened candy to certain physicians until Nov. 7. They’ll receive $1 for every pound of candy they donate.

The participating dentists and physicians will then coordinate with Operation Gratitude to fill thousands of care packages with candy to ship to soldiers, sailors, National Guard members and Marines.

This is the eighth year the Candy Buy Back Program has taken plane in San Diego County.

Last year, more than 14,000 pounds of candy in San Diego were sent to troops overseas. This year, officials say the goal is more than 15,000 pounds.

A number of health offices, from Vista to Del Mar, are participating in the candy buy back. Here’s the full list.

Republican nominee Donald Trump's claim that the election will be rigged against him has raised concerns about voter intimidation and poll monitoring during the November 8 election.

A variety of political organizations say they'll have people monitoring polling places.

How could that affect polling places in San Diego?

"If certain campaigning is happening within 100 feet, then we are going to advise that individual, that is doing so, to get past that 100 foot mark," said Michael Vu, of the San Diego Registrar of Voters. 

It is illegal to campaign within 100 feet of a polling place. Outside of 100 feet, political signs, shirts, positive or negative words about candidates or issues is fair game.

According to the San Diego Registrar of Voters there will be hundreds of field support representatives circulating throughout the 1552 precincts in San Diego during the election. To help enforce the polling place rules those field representatives have some power behind them.

"If we have to get law enforcement involved we will," Vu said.

But what do voting rights activists think about the registrars ability to protect polling places?

"We think there's a good system to catch these sorts of things," said Christopher Wilson, Associate Director of Alliance San Diego.

Wilson believes that the system in place will not only prevent campaigning within 100 feet of polling places, but also protect voters from all sorts of things even voter harassment and intimidation.

"I'd tell people not to be worried, afraid,or intimidated. Go out there and make sure your vote is cast and if someone does try to intimidate you, then there are rules and laws to protect you," he said.

NBC 7 spoke to various San Diego voters--most felt the system would protect them. Voter David Burch said that if someone tried to interfere with him at a polling place, he'd tell that person to "get out of my way! It's a freedom of choice."

San Diego voting polls are open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. on November 8.

There's plenty of hand wringing and stomach churning in Democratic households this week as polls show the presidential race tightening in its final days — and the Hillary Clinton campaign is making a series of moves that some see as panicked desperation.

Meanwhile, campaign officials have seemed unusually agitated in a series of press calls and statements responding to FBI Director James Comey's bombshell on Clinton's email server, NBC News reported.

And after pledging to close the race on a positive note, the campaign rolled out a tough new ad highlighting women who claim Trump sexually assaulted them, while reintroduced former beauty queen Alicia Machado.

But the reality is that Clinton's chances of winning 270 electoral votes have hardly changed from last week. While Democrats' agitation is palpable, it's driven more by anger than panic at what they see as unprecedented and appalling meddling by outside forces in the election.

A San Diego-based U.S. sailor, killed in Iraq, was honored Tuesday by members of the public as his funeral procession traveled from Coronado to Miramar National Cemetery.

Chief Petty Officer Jason Finan, 34, was killed in an improvised explosive device (IED) attack near Ba'shiqah, Iraq on Oct. 20, according to the U.S. Navy.

He was the first U.S. service member to die in combat since the launch of a massive operation to free the city of Mosul from ISIS.

A private service was held at Sacred Heart Catholic Church. Then, the funeral procession traveled from the church to Miramar National Cemetery for a private burial.

The public was invited to pay their respects to Finan along this procession route which traveled from 6th Street towards North Island, right on Alameda, right on 4th Street and continued east to the bridge. 

The City of Coronado ordered flags in front of municipal buildings to be lowered to half-staff in honor of Finan.

Locals told NBC 7 that the Coronado community always comes together to honor fallen service members because the military is so much a part of their community.

Officials with the Navy Expeditionary Combat Command said Finan served 13 years on active duty – entering the U.S. Navy on Aug. 26, 2003.

During his career, Finan received 18 awards, including Navy Marine Corps Commendation with Combat V, Army Commendation Medal and two Navy Marine Corps Achievement Medals, to name a few.

He was qualified in master explosive ordnance disposal, official said, and was an expeditionary warfare specialist, naval parachutist, enlisted surface warfare specialist and a diver. 

Finan lived with his family in Imperial Beach. He is survived by his wife and 7-year old son. 

An online fundraising account has been created to help the family.

A suspect who holed himself up inside a home in Mira Mesa was not found inside the residence after officers searched the home, according to Acting Captain Charles Lara, from the San Diego Police Department (SDPD).

Officers swarmed a Mira Mesa neighborhood Tuesday in search of 27-year old Michael Paganvega, wanted for assault with a deadly weapon.

Paganvega is connected to a shooting that happened at Hourglass Park in La Jolla Tuesday morning. A victim went to the hospital with a gunshot wound, according to SDPD, but it is considered to be non-life threatening.

At 2:30 p.m., officers set up a perimeter around Brentford Avenue and Westonhill Drive. The San Diego Police Department (SDPD) said detectives had tried to arrest Paganvega in the area but he escaped.

A search ensued.

One hour later, the SDPD said officers had zoned in on a house in the 8800 block of Brentford Avenue where they believed he was hiding.

Officers attempted to call out to Paganvega but he was not responding. SDPD said one person -- not the suspect -- had come out of the house.

SWAT officials moved in and a standoff began, lasting for hours. Around 5 p.m., police set off flashbangs.

At approximately 7:45 p.m., Cpt. Lara said that officers conducted a through search of the home but Paganvega was not found.

At this time, a motive for the shooting is unkown.

He is considered to be armed and dangerous. If anyone has information or has seen him, they are asked to not engage with him in any manner, and instead call SDPD.

No further details were immediately released.

Check back for updates on this breaking news story. 

Parents of a San Diego woman fatally shot by police officers in Torrance say their daughter, a law school graduate who had just moved to the Los Angeles area, suffered from bipolar disorder.

They spoke with NBC 7 exclusively on Tuesday, a day after Michelle Shirley, 39, was killed.

Shirley was behind the wheel of a vehicle that led police on an eight-minute chase through Torrance.

The chase ended with a barrage of bullets fired into her car, the entire incident recorded on video, authorities said.

Shirley's parents told NBC 7 their daughter was a graduate of the University of California, San Diego and Loyola of Chicago Law School. She was a successful entrepreneur, but for the last 10 years she struggled with bipolar disorder.

According to the family, there were several psychological episodes that led Shirley to run-ins with police in San Diego as well.

“I always had the same prayer and that is, 'God if she gets sick, please don't let anything happen to her. Let her get the help,'" said her mother, Debra Shirley.

“When she did not get rest, when she doesn't sleep regular, she spirals out of control,” father Ronnie Shirley said.

Shirley moved to Los Angeles two weeks ago and became an Uber driver to make some extra money to help her advertising business, her parents said.

“She was happy," according to her father, who added that he spoke to her Friday. "She was driving and she just said, 'I am happy,'" Ronnie Shirley said.

Just three days later, Shirley became involved in the police pursuit.

Officers were called to the residential neighborhood by someone reporting a reckless driver.

After the eight minute chase, officers forced the vehicle into a spin, then surrounded it.

From the video, it appears Shirley attempted to escape, slamming into police cars. That's when officers are seen apparently shooting, firing more than 20 rounds into her car.

“I know the officers had no clue of what they are dealing with, they just shot. They're thinking 'we have a crazy person just shoot them,'" her father said.

“To take that kind of aggressive action, to just, like spray bullets, I could not imagine something like that,” her mother added.

The Shirley family says they appreciate the officers who had helped Shirley get help in the past. But they want this tragedy to serve as a lesson to police in the future.

“There is value in human lives that makes you stop for a minute and think about this person as a human being,” Debra Shirley said.

Torrance police confirmed that the shots came from three officers. All three are on administrative leave pending the outcome of the investigation.

One officer was injured, then treated and released from a hospital the same day.

A car rolled off land into the water along the Silver Strand early Wednesday, landing on its roof in the process.

No one was injured when the car crashed into the shallow water near Loews Coronado Bay Resort on Coronado Bay Road.

Police were called just before 5:30 a.m.

Everyone inside the car managed to escape without injury.

Police were in the process of towing the car back to land as of 7 a.m.

A man linked to two violent sexual assaults that happened in San Diego more than two months ago has been arrested in Arizona, officials confirmed Wednesday.

Jeremiah Williams, 24, is accused of two attacks on two separate victims: an Aug. 13 assault in University City and an assault one day later at a Motel 6, San Diego Police Department (SDPD) Capt. Brian Ahearn said.

Earlier this week, the SDPD asked for the public's continued help in tracking down the suspect.

After a lengthy manhunt led by multiple agencies and spanning several states including California, Texas, Arizona and Illinois, police announced a break in the case Wednesday.

SDPD Lt. Paul Phillips, of the Sex Crimes Unit, said Williams had been arrested on Oct. 27 on West Crown King Drive in Tolleson, Arizona.

Officers from the Arizona Wanted Violent Offender Task Force received a tip about Williams in the area, which led to his arrest. Williams was booked into the Maricopa County Jail in Arizona for outstanding warrants. 

Phillips said leads and tips from the public were a critical part of helping authorities capture Williams.

“Many long hours were put into searching for Williams,” the lieutenant explained.

The lieutenant said Williams had been staying in Arizona at the time of his arrest, although Phillips wasn't sure how long he had been there.

Phillips said that, at this point, investigators are not aware of any additional assault cases linked to Williams, but the investigation is ongoing.

"There's a lot of work to be done," he added.

Williams was identified as the suspect in both cases early on.

According to police, physical evidence from the scene of the University City sex assault linked Williams as the suspect. In this assault, a woman was attacked at the Venetian Condominiums in the 3900 block of Nobel Drive after she was dropped off at the complex by a friend.

It was 10:30 p.m. and, as the woman walked to her apartment, she felt as if someone was following her.

Before the victim could unlock the door to her home, Williams allegedly knocked her to the ground and demanded money at gunpoint. After giving him money, the woman was dragged into her apartment where police said she was beaten and sexually assaulted.

Three days after that attack, SDPD officers were called to Sharp Memorial Hospital for a report of another assault.

In that case, a 23-year-old woman told police she had been violently sexually assaulted on Aug. 14 at a Motel 6 located at 4380 Alvarado Canyon Road in Mission Valley.

"The suspect, who she had recently met, entered her room choked and sexually assaulted her and then hit her in the head with a hand gun," Ahearn said.

Sex crimes detectives went to the motel and collected evidence. During their investigation, detectives learned that police officers had been called out to the incident at the motel on Aug. 14 at 10:45 p.m. The call had come in as a man hitting a woman.

That night, witnesses told police they heard the victim yell for help, and saw a suspect flee on foot. The Motel 6 manager told NBC 7 that the victim smashed a window in the room and drove off in a car before police arrived at the scene. 

In a strange twist, the SDPD said officers with the California Highway Patrol (CHP) had detained Williams that night, after the incident at the motel, for possession of a firearm. He was cited for a firearm violation and released.

Back at Motel 6, officers found a crime scene, but no victim.

It wasn't until Aug. 17, when the victim went to Sharp Memorial Hospital and reported the assault, that investigators linked the victim to the Motel 6 incident. The woman's description of her attacker matched the description of the man accused in the University City assault.

During the investigation, through physical evidence and victim interviews, detectives identified Williams as the suspect in both cases.

Investigators launched a manhunt for Williams, and warned the public that the suspect was considered armed and dangerous.

The San Diego County District Attorney's Office confirmed Wednesday that Williams will be extradited back to San Diego at an undisclosed date.

“We anticipate bringing him back shortly to face charges,” Phillips added an afternoon news briefing.

The SDPD said he will face multiple charges related to the two sexual assaults from August. Williams has a criminal background in California and Texas. 

Anyone with information on these cases can call the SDPD's Sex Crimes Unit at (619) 531-2210.

In NBC News' updated presidential battleground map, Hillary Clinton has 274 electoral votes in her column -- which is more than the 270 needed to win the presidency, but it's down from where it was last month (at 287). Meanwhile, Donald Trump's electoral-vote total has grown to 180, up from 157 in mid-October. And we have 84 electoral votes in the Tossup column.

The big changes here: We moved Georgia, Iowa, and Maine's 2nd Congressional District from Tossup to Lean GOP; we moved Nevada from Tossup to Lean Dem; and we moved both New Hampshire and North Carolina from Lean Dem back to Tossup. We attribute these changes to the natural tightening of the race, with Republican voters coming back home to Trump. But we will continue to watch any fallout from last Friday's Comey news.

One of the busiest intersections in La Mesa is also one of the most dangerous for those who use it daily. Now, the city is making safety improvements to the area, including adding a much-needed crosswalk.

Greg Sanchez is one of the many pedestrians who cross the Spring Street entrance to Interstate 8 every day – except right now there isn’t an actual crosswalk there.

"I've been almost run over a couple of times right here," said Sanchez. "And yeah, it's dangerous."

The intersection is part of Sanchez’ daily routine: he takes the trolley from San Diego, gets off on the La Mesa Boulevard stop, and walks to his job on Center Street, which is located on the other side of I-8.

"Some [drivers] are just not stopping, or slowing down. So you gotta wait, be on the lookout, and [if] there [are] no cars, kinda run," explained Sanchez.

The problem is, if you're walking, there is no other way to get from the trolley stop, which is in La Mesa's downtown village, to the other side of the freeway, the center of La Mesa's industry.

Greg Humora, Director of Public Works for the City of La Mesa, said the freeway essentially cuts the city in half.

"We've identified this crossing as the No. 1 pedestrian facility we want to build right now," Humora told NBC 7.

The City of La Mesa has been working on the crosswalk project for about 10 years.

The plan calls for workers to remove the dirt from underneath the highway overpass, put in a retaining wall, build a sidewalk and add lighting – all in an effort to make the crossing safe for pedestrians.

The other side of the freeway is also problematic. There's a narrow, 2-foot walkway along the overpass that wasn't designed for pedestrians.

“It's like a balance beam out there right now,” said Humora. “So what we're going to do is, we're going to put a 5-feet concrete sidewalk in, on top of the existing ramp."

In addition to safety, the City of La Mesa wants to attract more people to the retail stores in its industrial area, which include two breweries – Bolt Brewery and Helix Brewing Company – and two wineries, San Pasqual Winery and La Mesa Wine Works.

"La Mesa is a very walkable city," said Humora. "It's a high priority for the city council to make things more walkable."

The city will put out construction bids for the crosswalk once Caltrans approves permits – a process expected to take place within the next few weeks. Construction on the new walking path should start next spring and the area will be ready for people to use in fall of 2017.

A Highway Safety Improvement Program grant administered by Caltrans will cover the cost of the project, expected to total about $1 million.

More California community colleges may soon offer four-year degrees programs, even in highly competitive fields like nursing or electrical engineering.

In September 2014, the state legislature made it possible for the community college system to award bachelor degrees. The move was aimed at providing more education to help high school graduates get the training required to enter a competitive job market.

Ten of those colleges are slated to begin this year.

A Senate panel met Tuesday in San Diego and reviewed a proposal to expand bachelor degree programs from 15 community colleges to 150.

They talked about ways to keep the programs from duplicating private and state systems and, offer specialized degrees in medical or technology programs for less money.

"A lot of these degrees, students had to go to the private for-profit schools," said State Sen. Marty Block who authored the bill approved two years ago. "The community colleges can do a better job than the private, for-profits for less money."

An estimated cost for a four-year degree through the community college stystem is approximately $10,000, Block said.

Initially, the community college BA degree programs were not to include degrees offered at nearby UC or CSU campuses. However that may soon change.

"In certain communities they need more programs than the CSU can process for them," Block said.

"Clearly the community needs more nurses, and more people in many fields, than the California State University is just too impacted to prepare enough students."

Participants in the hearings also discussed finding ways to transfer students who were in private universities that closed unexpectedly.

In September, ITT Tech closed its doors and shut out students who were in the process of getting degrees.

San Diego County home prices rose half a percent in September and are expected to register nearly as big an increase (0.4 percent) in October, according to a Nov. 1 report by Irvine-based financial information provider CoreLogic Inc.

The company’s monthly update predicted the county’s home prices will jump another 9.9 percent by September 2017, having climbed 5.9 percent in the 12 months ended in September 2016.

CoreLogic called the county’s market conditions “normal,” which is notable in that it sees Los Angeles County’s market as overvalued. But the San Diego area will be overvalued by 2021, the company projected, without specifying when conditions might switch from being what it considers normal.

In California overall, the company said home prices inched up 0.1 percent in September, or 5.8 percent year over year. It forecast a 0.3 percent statewide increase in October, and a 9.0 percent rise by September 2017.

Nationally, home prices were up 1.1 percent in September, and have increased 6.3 percent year over year. CoreLogic predicted U.S. home prices will rise 0.3 percent in October, and 5.2 percent by September 2017.

A black church in Mississippi was badly burned in a fire and vandalized with the words "vote Trump" on Tuesday evening, NBC News reported.

The fire erupted at Hopewell Baptist Church in Greenville about 9:15 p.m. Tuesday, heavily damaging the main sanctuary, officials said. The pro-Trump graffiti was written on an outside wall.

Mayor Errick Simmons said the "hateful and cowardly act" was likely race-related, "an attack on the black community."

The local police chief said investigators were talking to a person of interest who lives in the area, but there is no surveillance footage of the fire, which appears to have been set deliberately. The FBI said it is investigating the incident, and federal ATF and Mississippi State Fire Marshal investigators were on the scene as well. 

The U.S. Navy sailor accused of driving drunk and crashing into a crowded park beneath the Coronado Bridge appeared in court Wednesday, in his first court appearance since his arrest.

Richard Anthony Sepolio, 24, an active duty service member stationed in Coronado, will remain in custody on $2 million bail. A San Diego judge rejected the defense request to release Sepolio into the care of the U.S. military.

Sepolio's truck plunged 60 feet off the Coronado Bridge ramp on Saturday, October 15. The vehicle landed onto a crowd below, killing four people.

He has pleaded not guilty to multiple charges related to the fatal crash, including four counts of gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated, driving under the influence causing injury or death, and four different great bodily injury allegations.

Attorney Paul Pfingst argued his client was not drunk and was not texting. Sepolio should be released from jail and confined to base where he could undergo surgery for injuries to his back, his ribs and his hands, the attorney told the court.

“This young man is serving his country and he has no criminal record and the breath tests that were taken shortly after the accident show that his blood alcohol level was below the legal limit,” Pfingst said explaining how breath tests conducted by the CHP showed his client had a blood alcohol level under the legal limit.

In court, the prosecutor said the defendant’s injuries prevented an accurate breathalyzer test and that blood drawn later provided a more accurate measurement.

An hour after the initial tests, a blood sample was drawn and Sepolio's BAC was measured at .08.

The idea that his client was texting at the time of the crash is not accurate, Pfingst said.

"After he hit the ground and was trapped in the vehicle, he took out his cell phone to call for help," Pfingst said. "The evidence will show when they check the time on his cell phone, the cell phone times match up to after the accident occurred."

The crash was a tragic accident, Pfingst said, caused when Sepolio “was driving at approximately 60 miles an hour when he was forced off the bridge by another vehicle.”

However, the district attorney’s office maintains there is no evidence the defendant was forced off the bridge.

Judge Frederick Maguire rejected the defense request and ordered Sepolio to be held on $2 million bail.

Sepolio is facing a maximum sentence of 23 years and eight months in prison.

The four people killed in the collision were identified as Cruz Elias Contreras, 52, AnnaMarie Contreras, 50, Andre Christopher Banks, 49, and Francine Denise Jimenez, 46.

They were attending the La Raza Ride motorcycle festival being held at Chicano Park.