{"id":5047,"date":"2026-07-21T04:12:42","date_gmt":"2026-07-21T04:12:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=5047"},"modified":"2026-07-21T04:12:42","modified_gmt":"2026-07-21T04:12:42","slug":"redwood-city-driver-charged-after-passenger-chasing-his-pickup-is-killed","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=5047","title":{"rendered":"Redwood City driver charged after passenger chasing his pickup is killed"},"content":{"rendered":"
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A Redwood City driver was charged with vehicular manslaughter and hit-and-run after prosecutors said he fled a minor collision last week, then fatally injured a passenger who chased the pickup and climbed onto its tailgate.<\/p>\n

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Lazaro Gregorio Chacajlux, 32, pleaded not guilty Friday to felony vehicular manslaughter, felony hit-and-run resulting in death and misdemeanor hit-and-run involving property damage, according to the San Mateo County District Attorney\u2019s Office.<\/p>\n

San Mateo County Superior Court Judge Barbara J. Mallach rejected prosecutors\u2019 request to hold Chacajlux without bail and set bail at $150,000. He remained in custody Monday.<\/p>\n

The charges stem from the July 14 death of Arturo Cervantes Romero, 36, of Redwood City.<\/p>\n

Prosecutors said Chacajlux was backing a Ford F-150 out of a driveway that evening when he struck a Jeep Wrangler driven by Romero\u2019s wife. She pulled over to exchange information, but Chacajlux continued south on Hudson Street before turning west onto Woodside Road, prosecutors said.
\nRomero, who had been riding in the Jeep\u2019s front passenger seat, got out and pursued the pickup, prosecutors said.<\/p>\n

\u201cUnfortunately, the tragic choice was made by our victim to chase after the vehicle that took off on them, and so he jumped out of the passenger side, jumped up and caught up with it when it was at that intersection there near Woodside Road and grabbed onto the back of the vehicle,\u201d District Attorney Stephen Wagstaffe said.<\/p>\n

Romero climbed onto the pickup\u2019s tailgate, then was thrown from the truck and fatally injured as Chacajlux continued driving, prosecutors alleged.<\/p>\n

\n<\/div>\n

\u201cIt wasn\u2019t like he was going 90 mph,\u201d Wagstaffe added. \u201cIt does not take much to throw you from a vehicle.\u201d<\/p>\n

Wagstaffe said descriptions of the collision indicated Romero \u201cgot wrapped up in the tire.\u201d <\/p>\n

Chacajlux continued driving after Romero was injured, prosecutors said.<\/p>\n

Redwood City police officers were dispatched to the scene around 7:45 p.m. Emergency personnel pronounced Romero dead at 7:57 p.m.<\/p>\n

\n<\/div>\n

Investigators identified Chacajlux\u2019s pickup using automated license plate reader cameras, prosecutors said. The truck was later found abandoned nearby.<\/p>\n

Chacajlux surrendered to police July 15.<\/p>\n

Wagstaffe said the three charges cover different parts of the sequence: the initial collision, Romero\u2019s death and Chacajlux\u2019s alleged failure to stop afterward. <\/p>\n

\u201cHis actions killed a human being,\u201d Wagstaffe said. \u201cHe didn\u2019t stop. \u2026 If you\u2019re aware of it, you have to stop. Our belief is that he was, and then he drove off because he was scared.\u201d<\/p>\n

Wagstaffe said his office sought to hold Chacajlux without bail because Romero was killed and Chacajlux allegedly failed to stop after both the initial collision and Romero\u2019s fatal injury.<\/p>\n

Nafiz Ahmed, Chacajlux\u2019s defense attorney, did not respond to a request for comment Monday.<\/p>\n

Chacajlux could face up to six years in prison if convicted, Wagstaffe said. <\/p>\n

Chacajlux is scheduled to return to court July 24 for a hearing on a defense request to reduce his bail. A preliminary hearing is scheduled for July 29.<\/p>\n

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The suspect was allegedly attempting to flee the scene of a collision when the victim was thrown off his truck. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1784,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5047","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\nRedwood City driver charged after passenger chasing his pickup is killed - Next City Digest<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=5047\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Redwood City driver charged after passenger chasing his pickup is killed - Next City Digest\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The suspect was allegedly attempting to flee the scene of a collision when the victim was thrown off his truck.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=5047\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Next City Digest\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-07-21T04:12:42+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=5047#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=5047\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/13065d40d633843429ac57d4e5c06f9b\"},\"headline\":\"Redwood City driver charged after passenger chasing his pickup is killed\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-07-21T04:12:42+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=5047\"},\"wordCount\":540,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=5047#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/8529d1d6de506daa09bff8da78b18317.webp\",\"articleSection\":[\"News\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=5047#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=5047\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=5047\",\"name\":\"Redwood City driver charged after passenger chasing his pickup is killed - 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