Brawl outside court appearance for Sacramento man held in deadly Freeport crash that killed 5
An angry brawl outside Sacramento County Main Jail between a relative of the man authorities say killed five passengers while behind the wheel in a deadly Delta crash and the victims’ families brought a parade of deputies to the chaotic scene.
The sidewalk fight following Cameron Garcia’s first court appearance Tuesday afternoon exposed raw nerves just days after the violent Feb. 9 deaths.
Enraged family members after the hearing shouted that the man they identified as Garcia’s brother said “I see dead people,” as he drove past the group, triggering the brief melee. About a dozen deputies streamed across I Street to restore order as family members broke up the fighting.
Minutes earlier, Sacramento Superior Court Commissioner Alin Cintean read the charges Garcia of Sacramento faces: five counts of gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated, one charge for each of the five who died just before 5:30 p.m. Thursday on River Road, a mile south of Freeport Bridge.
Monte Nunn, 29; Izabelle Larae Salaz-Stephens, 19; Faith Nicole Samuels, 18; and 16-year-old Curvontay Swygert, all of Sacramento; died in the Thursday wreck. Another woman who died in the crash has not been identified by the Sacramento County Coroner’s Office, though family and friends told KCRA that she was 17-year-old Aahliya Mariah Garcia.
A stoic Garcia listened from behind the bars of his courtroom holding cell as family members waited outside on I Street. They were not permitted inside the jail courtroom for the hearing, court bailiffs said, an indication of the emotions at play only five days after the five were killed.
Garcia is also facing charges in the alleged carjacking of a good Samaritan that resulted in a chase that ended in Elk Grove. The 28-year-old Garcia has two prior strike convictions for burglaries in 2013 and 2017, defense attorney Linda Parisi said following the brief hearing.
Garcia is being held in lieu of $5.5 million bail at Sacramento County Main Jail. He returns to Cintean’s courtroom March 29. Parisi said she anticipates reviewing findings from the crash scene as well as reports on Garcia’s blood-alcohol level ahead of the March hearing.
The Cadillac Escalade authorities say Garcia was driving slammed into a tree — the crash’s force ejected his five passengers, California Highway Patrol officials said. Garcia then allegedly wrested away a passing driver’s Volkswagen sedan and sped southeast toward Elk Grove. Nearby Sacramento County sheriff’s deputies and Elk Grove police chased Garcia onto Elk Grove Boulevard and Fire Poppy Drive across from Valley Hi Country Club.
A swarm of officers met Garcia at Elk Grove and Fire Poppy after he had reportedly ditched the sedan, damaged in an collision during the chase, and fled through backyards and onto Valley Hi’s golf course. Garcia was captured on Laguna Lake Way several hundred yards east of the golf course and taken into custody.
This story was originally published February 14, 2023 at 12:47 PM.
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