Man pleads not guilty to hit-and-run charges in church crash

By: North County Times Wire Services - | Thursday, March 22, 2007 7:03 PM PDT ∞

SAN DIEGO - A man who was allegedly driving about 100 miles per hour on a Rolando street when his car struck a pedestrian and ended up crashing into a church, pleaded not guilty today to hit-and-run and vehicular manslaughter charges.

Keith Terez Johnson, 27, was ordered held on $500,000 bail.

Deputy District Attorney Melissa Diaz told Judge David Szumowski that Johnson, whom she said was a known street gang member, was a "serious community safety and flight risk."

The prosecutor said Johnson was speeding down University Avenue near 67th Street Monday when his car sideswiped another vehicle, jumped a curb and hit 50-year-old La Mesa resident Bernard Piotrowski on his left side, severing his arm.

Johnson's Acura ended up halfway inside the Believe in God Ministries church, according to Diaz, who said the defendant ran six or seven blocks before being apprehended.

Johnson's older brother told reporters outside the courtroom that his brother was speeding because he was trying to get away from people who shot up his car and tried to kill him last year.

"He does feel bad," Floyd Johnson said. "Nobody wants to take somebody's life. He's a loving individual."

He said his brother's wife is in the military and is deployed in Iraq.

The couple has two young children, and the defendant was about to start a job as a telemarketer, said Deputy Public Defender Paul Rodriguez, who told the judge that his client has no history of force or violence.

Johnson faces 11 years in state prison if convicted.

Szumowski set a status conference for next Thursday.

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