SAN DIEGO — The suspected driver in a crash that killed three homeless men and injured several others as they camped on the sidewalk inside a downtown San Diego tunnel last week pleaded not guilty Tuesday to charges of gross vehicular manslaughter.
Craig Martin Voss, 71, faces more than 20 years in prison if convicted of all the charges, which also include driving under the influence of drugs, causing injury. Authorities have not disclosed what sort of drug they suspect may have impaired the driver.
San Diego Superior Court Judge Francis Devaney ordered Voss to remain jailed in lieu of $1 million as he has been since his arrest following the March 15 crash that intensified the spotlight on homelessness in San Diego.
San Diego police said Voss was headed west in the B Street tunnel about 9 a.m. when his Volvo station wagon jumped the curb and plowed into homeless people along the sidewalk, some camped in tents, where they sought to escape the rain and cold.
Killed at the scene were Randy Ferris, 65; Walter Jones, 61, and Rodney Diffendal, 40. The complaint filed by prosecutors indicates that aside from the three fatalities, another seven people were injured — three of whom suffered "great bodily injury."
That's more injuries than initially reported. On the day of the crash, authorities said six people were hurt — five who went to the hospital and one who did not.
After the crash, Voss stopped the Volvo and tried to help the victims. Police said Voss identified himself as the driver and cooperated. He was arrested after he was given a field sobriety test and authorities suspected he might have been driving while under the influence of drugs.
San Diego police Chief David Nisleit said that shortly before the crash, the department received a radio call of a possibly impaired driver, and the description of the car matched Voss' Volvo.
Voss' attorney did not disclose new information during the hearing, and declined comment afterward. Voss is scheduled to be back in court March 30 for a judge to consider lowering his bail. More information about what happened that morning could be disclosed at that time.
The crash happened on a stretch of B Street west of 16th and east of Park Boulevard. The top of the tunnel is known as Curran Plaza and is part of the community college. No students were in the area. San Diego City College is providing instruction online because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
San Diego has the nation's fifth largest homeless population, according to an annual report by the Department of Housing and Urban Development based on a count done in January 2019.
As of January 2020 — prepandemic and the most recent countywide count available — the annual Point-in-Time count found 7,658 homeless people throughout all of San Diego County, a 5% decrease from 2019. Of that number, nearly 4,000 were without shelter.
