California: Reginald Grigsby enters plea in DUI trial for killing highway worker Leonardo Sandoval

One person was killed in an overturn crash in Escondido. Photo courtesy of OnSceneTV

One person was killed in an overturn crash in Escondido. Photo courtesy of OnSceneTV

From Times of San Diego;

A one-time high school and college football star accused of driving under the influence of drugs and causing a crash that killed a Caltrans subcontractor on a North County freeway onramp pleaded not guilty Wednesday to gross vehicular manslaughter and DUI charges.

Reginald Grigsby Jr., 31, was ordered held on $750,000 bail and faces up to 10 years in state prison if convicted of the felony counts, said Deputy District Attorney Aimee McLeod. Grigsby was was under the influence of a “central nervous system depressant” when he lost control of his Mitsubishi Montero on the connector from South Centre City Parkway to southbound Interstate 15 in Escondido shortly after 2 p.m. Monday, the prosecutor alleged.

The vehicle veered off the roadway, rolled down a slope and struck Murrieta resident Leonardo Sandoval, who was repairing a sprinkler system in a median next to the freeway entrance.

Sandoval, the 21-year-old father of a year-old boy and an employee of Perris-based Pacific Restoration Group, died at the scene.

The SUV overturned before coming to rest on its roof next to a off-ramp from northbound I-15. ….MORE

From 10news.com

Grigsby charged with attempted murder of mother; was shot by father

 

Reginald-Grigsby-Jr.-

May 29, 2009  –  A former San Diego State University football player, who is accused of attacking his mother in her Fallbrook home before he was shot by his police captain father, pleaded not guilty Thursday to attempted murder.

Reginald Grigsby Jr., 25, is also charged with assault with a deadly weapon in connection with the attack early last Saturday morning.

Judge Marshall Hockett ordered Grigsby, who reportedly suffers from mental illness, held in lieu of $1 million bail.

According to the San Diego County Sheriff’s Department, Grigsby went into his parents’ home, and an argument with his mother, Desirah Grigsby, turned violent.

His father, Oceanside police Capt. Reginald Grigsby, had to retrieve his gun and shoot his son to stop the attack, investigators said.

Both mother and son were hospitalized.

The younger Grigsby played safety for the Aztecs between 2003 and 2006. He was a star player at El Camino High School in Oceanside.

The judge set a readiness conference for June 9 and a June 11 preliminary hearing date. ….MORE