Overview
- The San Bernardino County district attorney filed vehicular manslaughter with gross negligence and child-abuse charges, including a special allegation of willful harm causing death.
- Police arrested Brandon Padilla-Aguilera, 26, on Oct. 17 after detectives interviewed witnesses and gathered evidence over the previous month.
- At Tuesday’s court appearance, he pleaded not guilty; bail was set at $200,000, with a pre-preliminary hearing on Oct. 27 and a preliminary hearing on Oct. 28.
- Authorities say the Sept. 18 incident began when floodwaters swept a car off West Main Street into a wash; father and son exited, were separated, and the child was found deceased the next day.
- Officials identified drowning as the cause of death, and earlier jail records listing a murder booking and $1 million bail were superseded by the prosecutor’s filing decisions.