A man in California plowed his truck into a group of unsuspecting people sitting outside a San Jose bar Friday night killing one woman and injuring two men. Alex Corpus Moreno, 32, was deep in an alcohol-and-cocaine bender when he backed up his construction-grade pickup truck into the bar he had just gotten kicked out of. Court documents revealed Moreno was also in the throes of receiving oral sex when the fatal collision occurred.
Moreno was asked to leave the bar after he began showing signs of heavy intoxication. He was also seen snorting cocaine out in the open. Bar employees stated the man’s behavior drew a final straw when he was seen trying to take a woman’s top off.
Security asked Moreno to leave along with his 24-year-old female companion. The pair walked to the parking lot and got into Moreno’s 2017 Chevrolet Silverado truck listed under the ownership of his employer, Benicia-based Quality Erectors and Construction Inc.
According to the New York Daily News, more than a dozen witness accounts taken from employees and security guards at Agave Sports Bar and Grill on West Alma Avenue stated that Moreno and his female companion were in the truck for about half an hour.
The woman said she had several tequila shot at the bar and told police officers that she initiated performing oral sex on Moreno while he sat in the driver’s seat. She had no recollection of the collision and did not even realize the truck began to move.
In her statement to investigators, her only clear memory was being pulled out of the truck moments after the crash. Police investigators said witnesses estimated Moreno’s truck jumping into gear at 45mph as it backed up about 170 feet through umbrellas and tables. Patrons ran out of the way as the truck eventually hit a group of people.
The truck’s engine was still revving at high levels upon impact pinning three people against the side of the restaurant. One guard had to re-engage the truck’s transmission to stop the vehicle and free the victims. The woman who died was identified as 35-year-old Diana Prieto-Chacon, a citizen of Colombia. She was crushed by the vehicle's bumper.
An officer at the scene said Chacon was the most severely injured, and had a faint pulse as well as labored breathing. She died about three hours later at Valley Medical Center. The two other victims, males in their 30s and 40s, suffered serious leg injuries but are expected to survive.
Moreno was pulled out of the truck by security guards, who detained him until San Jose police officers arrived. He initially refused blood-alcohol tests at the scene, but police later obtained a search warrant to compel a blood sample from him.
Although results of his tests were not included in the police report, criminal charges were filed based on the observations of police and witnesses. Authorities will also take into account Moreno’s own statement to investigators that he had been drinking that evening and his admission that “he felt the effects of the beverages.”
Moreno was formally charged Wednesday with gross vehicular manslaughter and driving under the influence causing injury. He remained in jail Thursday, in lieu of $275,000 bail with a court date set for June 23.
