Pedro Ortiz allegedly injured another motorist in a 2012 crash on the H-2.
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A 39-year-old Ewa Beach man Monday pleaded not guilty to charges stemming from a head-on collision that occurred 14 months ago while he was allegedly driving the wrong way on the H-2 freeway.
Pedro Ortiz was charged last week with first-degree negligent injury, driving with a suspended license and hitting several city road signs while driving the wrong way on H-2 on Nov. 8, 2012. His bail was set at $25,000.
Circuit Judge Richard Perkins set Ortiz’s trial for the week of March 17 before Circuit Judge Randal Lee. Perkins also confirmed Ortiz’s $25,000 bail.
Police said the suspect drove a Toyota Sequoia SUV south in a northbound lane of the freeway, about a mile south of the Meheula Parkway overpass. Ortiz entered the freeway by using the Mililani Mauka offramp, police said.
The Toyota hit the Mazda pickup truck, which was traveling north.
The Waipahu man who was driving the pickup was pinned in the cab of the vehicle and taken to the hospital in critical condition. Ortiz suffered minor injuries.
In 2002, Ortiz was convicted of drunken driving. He was fined $150, and his license was suspended for 150 days.