Last Updated on July 18, 2019 by CCAR Staff
A Chino Hills man pleaded not guilty on Wednesday, July 17, to six felony counts tied to a double fatal hit-and-run crash in Diamond Bar in 2017.
Hans Timothy Cruz Guloy denied crashing his car into another vehicle, officials said. The vehicle was then struck by a third car, killing a 1-year-old girl and her father. Guloy is accused of then driving away. The crash took place on the 60 Freeway near Diamond Bar Boulevard.
Prosecutors allege Guloy was driving intoxicated when he crashed into a vehicle carrying a family of five, according to a news release from the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office. The collision forced the family vehicle to hit into a center divider, where a third vehicle struck the family’s motionless car.
Abraham Franco, 29, and Abby Franco, 1, both of Pomona, were killed in the crash. The mother was seriously injured. There were two other small children in the vehicle at the time.
Prosecutors accused Guloy of driving away after the crash and later telling investigators his car had been stolen.
After a year-long investigation, authorities filed charges against Guloy on Nov. 26, 2018, the one-year anniversary of the crash, said Ricardo Santiago, spokesman for the DA’s Office.
Paul Geller, Guloy’s defense attorney, said it was the driver of the third car, which struck the family at a high speed, that has kept his attention.
“It is extremely tragic and unique because it was a second collision not involving my client that occurred minutes after the initial collision that led to the death of two people,” Geller said. “The driver of the other vehicle in the second collision was determined to be speeding and did nothing to avoid the car from the first collision. That led to the death of the other parties”
The driver of the third car has not been charged.
Prosecutors charged Guloy with two counts of gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated as well as one count each of driving under the influence of alcohol causing injury, driving with a .08% blood alcohol content causing injury, hit-and-run driving resulting in death or serious injury and perjury by declaration.
If convicted, Guloy could face a maximum 22-year prison sentence, according to the DA’s Office. He is being held on $750,000 bail.
