The driver accused of causing a crash that sent a truck flying off the freeway and falling 50 feet onto a Mission Valley parking lot did not have a driver’s license and tried to conceal evidence implicating him in the crash, a deputy district attorney said Thursday.
Seated in a wheelchair, Jose Uribe, 20, pleaded not guilty to hit-and-run charges. He is being held without bail because he’s on probation related to a false imprisonment charge and concealing evidence in a 2012 rape case.
Prosecutors said Uribe also concealed evidence after the Sunday crash that seriously injured the Navy mechanic driving the truck. That man, Kenneth Freudenvoll, may be paralyzed after plummeting off Interstate 805 onto the Dave & Busters’ parking lot.
Deputy District Attorney Jalyn Wang said the fact that Uribe didn’t have a driver’s license is why Uribe fled the scene.
“The police noted when they located his vehicle, there were some efforts to change the tire and wipe off some of the paint damage that had transferred,” he said.
The CHP has reported Uribe drove up alongside Freudenvoll in a brown 2000 Ford Excursion, and the two vehicles collided.
The crash forced Freudenvoll to spin off the transition ramp. His truck broke through the guardrail, struck the Dave and Busters building below and crashed to the ground.
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Uribe allegedly took off, while Freudenvoll was rushed to Sharp Memorial Hospital.
On Monday, CHP officers tracked Uribe to his San Diego home off National Avenue. The deputy district attorney said Uribe’s passenger in the vehicle turned him in.
It wasn’t clear why Uribe was in a wheelchair at his Thursday arraignment, as officers said he was uninjured in the crash.
