People v. Piedra CA4/1

BACKGROUND

On June 2, 2012, Piedra met his estranged wife, Claudia Martinez, at a parking lot

in Oceanside. Martinez brought their 11-month-old daughter, Emme, with her so that

Piedra could see Emme. At that point in time, Piedra was homeless.

When Martinez arrived, Piedra began arguing with her. During the course of the

2 argument, Martinez got out of her car. As the argument escalated, Piedra tried to push

Martinez back into her car. Martinez resisted and called for help. An employee of a

nearby bank approached Martinez and Piedra and, in response, Piedra got in Martinez's

car and drove away with Emme in the back seat. The bank employee called 911, and the

employee and Martinez reported what had transpired to the dispatcher.

Law enforcement officers, alerted to Piedra's flight, located Piedra. One of the

officers drove up next to Piedra, and Piedra took off; that officer and another law

enforcement officer followed Piedra until, running a red light, Piedra hit a truck being

driven by Joel Banuelos. Banuelos estimated that Piedra was going approximately

miles an hour at the time of the collision. After Piedra hit Banuelos's truck, his car hit…