Bail set at near $1 million for driver in Fresno crash that killed 3. Latest on his condition

A Fresno County Superior Court judge on Friday set bail at nearly $1 million for the driver accused of fleeing from a Fresno County Sheriff’s deputy at a high rate of speed before crashing and killing three people last month.

Francisco Antonio Portillo, a 20-year-old from Fresno, was scheduled to be arraigned Friday but his defense attorney Eddie Ruiz said he was still at Community Regional Medical Center recovering from injuries suffered in the March 20 crash.

“Up until two days ago he could not communicate,” Ruiz told Judge Jon Kapetan.

The judge agreed to move his arraignment date to April 23 and his bail was set at $919,499. Kapetan did not rule out the possibility of arraigning him at the hospital.

Portillo faces the possibility of 25 years and 8 months in prison after the Fresno County District Attorney’s Office charged him in the aftermath of a fiery crash March 20 at the intersection of Cedar and McKinley avenues.

District Attorney Lisa A. Smittcamp, in a new srelease, said Portillo evaded a deputy at a high speed and ran a red light, causing a chain reaction seven-vehicle collision that led to the deaths of a 54-year-old man, a 28-year-old woman and a 20-year-old woman.

In addition, three others suffered severe injuries, including a passenger who was in the Camaro with Portillo. Two other people suffered injuries from the collision.

Following an investigation by the Fresno Police, officers determined Portillo was allegedly under the influence of alcohol and marijuana at the time of the crash.

Portillo faces three charges of gross vehicular manslaughter while impaired.

In addition, he was charged with evading and causing death and great bodily injury, driving under the combined influences of drugs and alcohol causing get bodily injury, reckless driving causing great bodily injury, failure to stop at a red light, unsafe speed, and driving with a blood alcohol content of .05% or higher while under the age of 21.

The case is being prosecuted by Deputy District Attorney Steven Ueltzen and the Alcohol and Drug Impaired Driver Vertical Prosecution Program.

This story was originally published April 8, 2021 at 4:49 PM.