Gomez held on $500,000 bond, federal detainer
A man, who is suspected of DUI after hitting a USC law student in a head-on collision earlier this month, has been detained and formally charged.
Santos Pineda Gomez, 46, faces charges of felony drunken driving, open container and driving without a license, according to Lance Cpl. Brent Kelly of the S.C. Highway Patrol.
After being released from the hospital Thursday, Gomez was transported to the Alvin S. Glenn Detention Center.
A judge set three bonds totaling $500,500 that afternoon.
Gomez is also being held on a detainer by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, a jail employee said.
He was discharged nearly two weeks after he allegedly hit Alan Martinez, 31, of Naples, Fla., in a head-on collision on Interstate 77, near Blythewood.
According to Kelly, Gomez was driving the wrong way, headed south in northbound lanes. As of Friday, invest igators hadn’t determined Gomez’s blood alcohol content or either car’s speed.
That was just before 6:30 a.m. on Sept. 8, as Martinez, a second-year law student, was headed to Chester to practice for a national skydiving competition.
On Sunday, he was in a medically induced coma, but his condition was improving, and he was able to breathe on his own, according to a Facebook page set up by family. A representative of the family didn’t respond to a request for comment Sunday.
The family has also been taking voice mail messages from friends to play to Martinez and said on the page that he was reacting to their voices.
Martinez was placed in a coma as he prepared to undergo brain and abdominal surgeries after he was airlifted from the wreck.
Martinez , a graduate of the Air Force Academy, had planned to compete on an eight-person skydiving team in an October and serves as a vice president for the Flying Gamecocks, USC’s skydiving club. He’s also worked for Outdoor Recreation since July.
For now, Martinez remains in critical condition, Kelly said, and he could undergo another round of
surgery today, family wrote on the page.