A judge on Friday set bail at $100,000 for a man accused of striking a skateboarder with his car and fleeing the scene.
Elijah Malone, 26, was arrested the day before on a felony charge of failing to stop at the scene of an accident.
However, his defense attorneys, Warren Geller and Frank Cofer, said that Malone had made a reasonable effort to determine what happened after the June 4 crash.
Geller and Cofer had asked Pro Tem Judge Holly Stoberski to release Malone on his own recognizance with court supervision.
Prosecutors, meanwhile, sought $200,000 bail, alleging Malone tried to cover up the crash by falsifying his time card to make it appear he was still at work when it happened.
According to the Metropolitan Police Department, the body of 28-year-old Ivan Aguilera was found along the roadside of North Oso Blanca Road, just north of West Montecito Pointe Drive, on the afternoon of June 5.
After a preliminary investigation, Metro determined that a Ram pickup was traveling southbound on Oso Blanca Road when it struck a pedestrian riding a skateboard.
Geller and Cofer denied that Malone fled the scene, saying he instead stopped, flashed his vehicle’s lights and looked around after the crash.
They speculated that Malone had not seen Aguilera afterward because his body was projected more than 100 feet from the roadway and obscured by a power box.
The defense attorneys also said that days after the crash, detectives had contacted Malone’s brother, who owned the truck involved. When Malone was notified and told that Aguilera was hit and killed in the crash, Malone tried to turn himself in, Geller said.
“On June 10th, at 9:13 a.m., the detective indicated to us that my client is not at fault, suggesting that the deceased, unfortunately, may have been skateboarding in a way that was risky,” Gellar noted.
As the attorney spoke, Aguilera’s relatives, who packed the courtroom gallery, sobbed.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates.
Contact Akiya Dillon at adillon@reviewjournal.com.
