Suspect in Columbus doctor’s death may have been impaired, is denied bond, cops say
A suspect arrested and charged with reckless murder in the traffic death of a Columbus doctor has been denied bond and may have been under the influence when the crash happened, according to the Opelika Police Department.
Police said Armin Rubido Gomez Lopez was denied bond on the reckless murder charge following Gomez Lopez’s Aniah’s Law hearing. Aniah’s Law is an Alabama law that gives judges more authority to deny suspects bail in serious criminal cases.
This charge stems from a crash on Sept. 7 on I-85 at exit 62 in Opelika which led to the death of Dr. Malcolm Goodchild, the Ledger-Enquirer reported.
Police said a preliminary investigation shows the Toyota 4Runner driven by Gomez Lopez was heading south on the northbound exit ramp when it struck the Tesla driven by Goodchild.
“Evidence presented at the hearing indicated Gomez Lopez may have been impaired at the time of the crash,” police said.
Police said detectives are awaiting toxicology reports to confirm this.
Gomez Lopez has a detainer from Immigration and Customs Enforcement, according to police.
The ICE website describes detainers as the following: “U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) lodges detainers on individuals who have been arrested on criminal charges and who ICE has probable cause to believe are removable non-citizens.”
It goes on to say, “The detainer asks the other law enforcement agency to notify ICE before a removable individual is released from custody and to maintain custody of the non-citizen for a brief period of time so that ICE can take custody of that person in a safe and secure setting upon release from that agency’s custody.”