A former Bexar County, Texas, sheriff’s correctional corporal has been charged in the death of a Lake Elsinore man on Interstate 215 in Riverside.
Giovanni Ceja, 31, is accused of driving while intoxicated, running his vehicle into both the victim and the victim’s disabled truck, then driving away. The crash occurred on the morning of August 7 on the southbound shoulder of the freeway, just north of La Cadena Drive. Gilberto Sotelo, 38, was pronounced dead at the scene.
A California Highway Patrol investigation later identified Ceja as the driver responsible for the collision. He was arrested by his law enforcement agency in San Antonio, Texas, on August 17. Ceja was extradited by the Riverside County Sheriff’s Office and booked into the Robert Presley Detention Center on August 27.
Ceja has been charged by the Riverside County District Attorney’s Office with second-degree murder and hit-and-run involving death. He entered a plea of not guilty at his arraignment on Monday at the Riverside Hall of Justice. His next court date is scheduled for January 30, 2024.
