Driver Pleads Not Guilty in Eagle Rock Crash
Rafu Staff and Wire Service Reports
Friday, Sept. 5, 2008

Rostislav Shnayder, 19, was involved in the fatal Aug. 27 wreck that claimed four lives.

Mikey Hirano Culross/Rafu Shimpo
A collection box on the customer service counter at the Ralphs market at Third and La Brea invites contributions for the family of the crash victims.

A19-year-old man who was alleg­edly speeding when his vehicle hit a car that then crashed into a tree, killing four people, including a pregnant woman, pleaded not guilty Tuesday to four counts of gross manslaughter.

Rostislav Dimittryi Shnayder of Eagle Rock was arraigned Tuesday at Los Angeles Superior Court downtown. Shnayder was allegedly speeding in a white Mitsubishi Eclipse at around 10:35 p.m. on Aug. 27, westbound on Colorado Boulevard when the ve­hicle hit a Nissan Maxima, which then crashed near Highland View Avenue.

Cristyn Nicole Cordova, 19, the pregnant driver of the Maxima, and her sister, 16-year-old Toni Cordova, died on impact when the vehicle slammed into a tree. Jason Timothy Gomez Her­nandez, 19, a family friend who was in the back seat, was ejected and died at the scene, according to police. The Cordovas’ 15-year-old brother, Andrew, was hospitalized and succumbed to his injuries Friday morning.

Carlos Alberto Campos, Cristyn’s 19-year-old boyfriend and the father of her unborn child, was riding in the front passenger seat and was ejected, police said. He suffered multiple fractures and remained in critical condition.

Bail was recommended at $200,000. A bail review hearing is set for Sept. 10 and a preliminary hearing is scheduled for Oct. 2. If convicted of all of the counts, Shnayder could face up to 10 years in prison.

Police initially said the crash may have been the result of a street race, but an LAPD statement Friday backed away from that assertion, stating there is no evidence of an organized speed competition.

Meanwhile, staff members at the Ralphs Market at Third Street and La Brea in Los Angeles are holding a fundraiser for coworker Janice Ishibashi, the mother of the three siblings who perished in the crash. The staff will be selling root beer floats for $5 this Saturday and Sunday, from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Ishibashi has worked at the market, located at 260 S. La Brea Ave., for more than 20 years.

The case has not yet been assigned to a trial prosecutor.