Man ordered to stand trial for murder, attempted murder in deadly crash near the Pike, judge rules

A Los Angeles man who authorities say was working as an Uber driver when he intentionally crashed his car into a group of people and cars in Downtown Long Beach, killing one person and injuring several others, has been ordered to stand trial.

Khalid Yagobbi, 47, faces one count of murder, four counts of attempted murder, and four counts of assault with a deadly weapon in connection to the crash on the night of Oct. 14, 2023.

Yagobbi is accused of intentionally orchestrating the crash, which killed 60-year-old Romelia Cuarenta Aguilar and injured at least four others along Shoreline Drive.

During a preliminary-hearing Wednesday, prosecutors presented evidence against Yagobbi, including testimonies from first-hand witnesses, victims, detectives and health experts.

During the hearing, questions about Yagobbi's mental capacity at the time of his driving were raised by both attorneys, who called on nurse practitioners to testify.

The testimony revealed that just a month before the crash, Yagobbi had gone to a nurse practitioner for a routine checkup and disclosed that he was experiencing "brain fog" two to three times a week, specifically while driving.

The nurse practitioner testified in court that Yagobbi was vague in describing his symptoms, so he didn't think he was a danger to himself or others and didn't suggest for him to stop driving.

Instead, Yagobbi continued driving and working for Uber up until the night of the fatal crash, when he picked up his final passenger, Samuel Chatam Jr.

Chatam testified in court that he needed to go to work at the Laugh Factory in Downtown Long Beach and called an Uber to his home in the area of 60th Street and Lime Avenue around 6 p.m. He was assigned Yagobbi as his driver and the two, shortly after, began making their way together toward Downtown.

Yagobbi wasn't very talkative but nothing appeared out of the ordinary, Chatam recalled. That is, until Yagobbi exited the freeway on Shoreline Drive, Chatam testified.

That's when, according to Chatam, Yagobbi suddenly merged onto the wrong side of traffic. Video shown in court shows Yagobbi's white car driving on the eastbound lanes of traffic before moving into the wrong lanes and splitting between two vehicles.

"Hey man, you know you're going on the wrong side of traffic?" Chatam recalled telling Yagobbi. "What are you doing."

Chatam said he screamed and tried to alert Yagobbi, but the 47-year-old kept driving straight.

Video shows Yagobbi continued driving eastbound in the westbound lanes of Shoreline Drive before running a red light and crashing into a group of people and cars.

The impact launched Aguilar and Kimberly Galicia, 19, several feet away before Yagobbi's car came to a stop at the intersection.

"Oops," Chatham recalled hearing Yagobbi say after the crash. Yagobbi then asked, "what happened?" according to Chatham's testimony.

Aguilar died at the scene, authorities said. Others like Galicia, meanwhile, were taken to a local hospital for serious injuries.

"I remember being in a lot of knee pain," Galicia testified, saying that the crash broke pelvis, spine, face and shoulder bones. "I couldn't move for a long time."

Following the crash, police took Yagobbi into custody on suspicion of murder.

The Los Angeles District Attorney's office then filed one count of vehicular manslaughter with gross negligence before eventually charging him murder, attempted murder and assault with a deadly weapon.

On Monday, Judge James D. Otto ruled there was enough evidence for the case against Yagobbi to go to trial but reduced his bail from $6 million to $100,000, court records show. Yagobbi will also be required to wear a GPS monitor, surrender his driver's license and passport and not drive.