Trial ordered for man accused of running over wife

CHINO -- A judge ruled today that a Montclair man must stand trial for attempted murder and other charges for a March incident in which he allegedly struck his wife with an SUV.

According to police testimony in Chino Superior Court, Carlos Briseno, 45, accelerated as he hit his wife following an argument, causing her to fly head-first into a wall at an AutoZone store.

Martha Briseno survived the incident despite suffering a spinal fracture, spleen lacerations, and bleeding in her brain, according to police testimony.

"Last I heard is that she's recovering, but she's in a lot of pain," Deputy District Attorney Will Wooten said after the hearing.

"She's very lucky to be alive," he added.

Carlos Briseno and his 40-year-old wife separated in August 2009. A series of court appearances followed to address a restraining order and child visitation.

The evening of March 21, the couple met to discuss an upcoming court date, according to police testimony.

They went together in Carlos Briseno's SUV to a shopping center at Central and Philadelphia avenues in Chino, where Carlos Briseno bought coffee at a Starbucks drive-thru and parked to talk.

The couple's discussion turned quickly into a fight, and Martha Briseno left the car.

According to testimony from Chino police officers Danielle Peck and Nicholas Mutrux, witnesses reported seeing Carlos Briseno chase after his wife in the SUV and strike her beside the AutoZone.

"After being struck her body flew into the AutoZone building," Peck testified. "(A witness) said her head hit the building and then she bounced off the building."

Mutrux testified that a witness told him the SUV seemed to accelerate as it approached Martha Briseno. The witness estimated Carlos Briseno was driving 40 to 50 mph, Mutrux said.

Mutrux said the witness told him Carlos Briseno was crying after the crash, and told bystanders to call police.

"He knew what was going on," Mutrux said of his interactions with Carlos Briseno. "He was very upset about what happened with his wife."

The investigating officer in the case, Detective Curtis Burton, testified primarily about his interviews with the couple.

Burton testified that Carlos Briseno confessed that he wanted to run over his wife after she left his car.

The detective said Briseno didn't respond when he asked him if he was trying to kill his wife.

After hearing testimony, Judge Gerard S. Brown ruled that there is sufficient evidence for Briseno to stand trial on three felony counts: attempted murder, assault with a deadly weapon, and inflicting corporal injury on a spouse.

Briseno, who is being held in lieu of nearly $1.1 million bail at West Valley Detention Center in Rancho Cucamonga, is next due in court Nov. 14.