Posted on 09/20/2026 6:08:54 AM PDT by TheDon
CARLSBAD, Calif. — A judge denied bail Friday for the man accused of fatally striking a Carlsbad mother of three while driving under the influence and fleeing the scene.
Fernando Saldana, 26, of Escondido pleaded not guilty to murder, gross vehicular manslaughter, DUI causing injury or death, and leaving the scene of a collision resulting in injury or death. He was also driving on a suspended license at the time of the crash, prosecutors said.
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A judge ordered that Saldana's face be blurred for broadcast, but his supporters and Wheyland's saw him in person for the first time since the crash.
Prosecutors say Wheyland was crossing Carlsbad Boulevard with her husband and 12-year-old son around 7:45 p.m. on Sept. 15 when she turned to call out to her son and was struck by Saldana's vehicle in the roadway.
According to Carlsbad police, Saldana fled the scene and abandoned his car on Oak Avenue, where officers found damage and evidence matching the collision.
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Prosecutors said Saldana's blood alcohol level was 0.084 when tested several hours after the crash.
Deputy District Attorney Matthew Starr said this is not Saldana's first DUI. Records show he completed probation for 2023 misdemeanor DUI conviction two months earlier through a diversion program that included MADD classes and a Watson advisement, a formal warning that driving under the influence and killing someone can result in a murder charge.
"Everyone who is convicted of a DUI is read that advisement, so they are on notice," Starr said. "In the event they [drive under the influence again], the potential charge is murder."
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If convicted, Saldana faces 15 years to life in prison plus an additional four years. He is scheduled to return to court at the end of the month.
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(Excerpt) Read more at cbs8.com ...
Translation”: “illegal”?
We need to ban vehicles.
Too dangerous for humans, because a few drink and do drugs and don’t care about others
Like guns.
And missiles.
And Big Macs.
And sugar drinks.
Agree, likely illegal.
Odd the judge ordered the killer’s face blurred.
So sez Nurse Bloomberg.
Curious that California gives a “warning” to drunk drivers that they can face murder charges for committing murder. In which country of immigrant origin is it legal to drive drunk, and kill someone? What happened to “ignorance of the law is no excuse”?
Does everyone get a free pass for their first arrest on every type of crime? “Next time you rob and beat someone to death you could be prosecuted for murder.”
California is the Wild West
He has supporters? Is there any kind of heinous action that you can do in this country and not gather a bunch of supporters?
His face is blurred?
I had a thought / question that I guess there is no way to answer definitively. What percentage of the mexican/central Americans in this country are illegals? After what Biden did I’m going to bet close to 50%. Now the anchor babies may not be illegal in the eyes of law but they are as far as I’m concerned.
If you calculate the 3 hours it took to test is blood alcohol and extrapolate, he was pretty shit-faced
“ Is there any kind of heinous action that you can do in this country and not gather a bunch of supporters”
Among leftards? Yeah, voting for Trump.
I question whether that's even legal. How old is the perp?
You voluntarily drink, get drunk. You voluntarily drive — unless you accept the Mass position that once incapacitated anything goes.
Whatever happens after this was deliberate. First degree murder is the starting point.
Death penalty.
Most likely an illegal alien and not cute and cuddly like E.T.
Mixed with the USSR and Red China.
26 years old.
Just killing the mothers that Americans can’t be bothered to kill.
Do they know if he drank before the crash ?
I was of the belief that it was no longer legal to deny bail from ANY crime in California. How come this fellow gets entangled in the spider’s web of archaic and contradictory law, is that any kind of social justice?
If he had a .084 alcohol level several hours after the crash mathematically based on the liver’s processing of alcohol he had a pretty serious Buzz going several hours earlier at the time of the crash
We can guess, but not yet know, that he was illegal, but the reality is that illegals drive over the limit ALL THE TIME. It is literally part of Mexican culture for men to get drunk on Saturday night, and if you live in a village in Mexico and don’t own a car, no big deal. But they come here, having grown up without the Mothers Against Drunk Driving indoctrination our own kids have grown up with, i.e. the legal and financial CONSEQUENCES of driving while intoxicated. While American young people have credit cards and Uber accounts, illegals have neither, so they just drive drunk. And how many times do they do so before something catastrophic happens? On top of it, they are often driving “burner cars”...unregistered and uninsured, so they just ditch it.
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