A judge set a $250,000 bond for the driver who prosecutors say was drunk when his car struck and fatally injured Montgomery County police Officer Noah Leotta on Rockville Pike in December.
The driver—Luis Gustavo Reluzco—appeared in Montgomery County Circuit Court for the first time Friday afternoon. Reluzco, clad in a green jumpsuit, appeared on a television screen in the courtroom via a video feed from the county jail.
As part of the bond’s conditions, Judge Robert A. Greenberg mandated that Reluzco surrender his passport, not drive, refrain from taking any non-prescription drugs, not serve or drink alcohol and be monitored before his trial to ensure he’s not drinking or using drugs. Reluzco’s wife was ordered to co-sign his bond.
Prosecutor Bryan Roslund said Reluzco, 47, was driving when his vehicle sheered the side of Leotta’s cruiser as the officer walked back along his car holding the license and registration of a different driver on the evening of Dec. 3. The collision caused injuries to Leotta’s head that led to the officer’s death nearly a week later when he was taken off life support at Suburban Hospital in Bethesda. Leotta, 24, was working as part of a holiday task force aimed at reducing drunken driving.
According to Roslund, Reluzco, of Olney, had been drinking at the Hooters on Rockville Pike for about three hours, consuming shots of bourbon and drinking beer.
Roslund said Reluzco had a blood alcohol level of 0.22, nearly three times the legal limit of .08. Reluzco also had the drug Xanax in his system, according to Roslund, although Reluzco’s defense attorney, John Roth, said his client had a prescription for the drug.
On Thursday a Montgomery County grand jury indicted Reluzco on charges of vehicular manslaughter and failing to make a lane change to avoid an emergency vehicle. He faces up to 10 years if convicted on the manslaughter charge.
Roslund had asked that Reluzco be held without bond, citing prior alcohol-related arrests in 1987 and 1999 in Montgomery County and Delaware. In the Montgomery incident, Roslund said Reluzco pleaded guilty to driving under the influence. Roth noted at the time Reluzco was 18. In the Delaware case, Roslund said Reluzco was initially arrested for DUI, but ended up being convicted of reckless driving.
Roth said his client has “total remorse” for what happened and that he should not be considered a flight risk due to his connections to the community. He said Reluzco worked as a bartender and server at Bethesda Country Club and hopes to continue to earn an income before his trial. It's not clear if Reluzco is still employed at the country club, a message left with the club's human resources department was not immediately returned Friday afternoon.
Greenberg noted that it would be a “rare case indeed” to hold someone without bond in a non-intentional homicide and then set Reluzco’s bond at $250,000 cash or property—meaning Reluzco could post the bond by putting up his Olney home or by pooling other assets.
Related – Father of Police Officer Who Was Killed Calls for Tougher Drunken Driving Laws
