A Santa Clarita Valley woman charged with murder, attempted murder and assault for allegedly stealing a pickup truck and crashing it on the 210 Freeway, killing a Fontana man and injuring others, saw her arraignment postponed Friday until next month.
Nicole Danielle Thibault, 28, appeared Friday in the Pomona branch of Los Angeles Superior Court, where she was to be formally charged with 14 felony counts in relation to a wrong-way driving traffic collision last month.
Instead, Thibault saw her arraignment rescheduled for March 27, Ricardo Santiago, spokesman for the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office told The Signal Friday.
In their felony complaint filed against Thibault, prosecutors allege she murdered Fontana resident Daniel Castillo.
They also allege she attempted to murder six women and that she assaulted each of those women with a weapon, specifically, a silver-colored 2011 Ford F-150 Raptor pickup truck.
They also claim Thibault committed an act of grand theft auto when she stole the pickup truck.
In their felony complaint, prosecutors recommended that Thibault’s bail remain set at $8 million.
Prosecutors said on the afternoon of Jan. 22, Thibault reportedly stole a parked truck in San Bernardino. The defendant allegedly drove through red lights and at unsafe speeds before entering the 210 Freeway, prosecutors added.
Thibault allegedly drove westbound on the eastbound lanes for more than 20 miles, prosecutors said, and then collided head-on with several cars, according to prosecutors.
Castillo, 69, died following the crash. Six other victims also suffered injuries, prosecutors said.
If convicted as charged, Thibault faces a maximum possible sentence of 57 years to life in prison.
The case is being investigated by the California Highway Patrol and San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department.
Court records show Thibault was arrested five times in that last 15 months.
Before she was arrested in connection with the fatal crash on Jan. 22, Thibault was arrested on Dec. 19, 2016, by SCV Sheriff’s deputies on suspicion of being under the influence of a controlled substance.
In court, a couple of months later, on Feb. 14, 2017, she “pleaded no contest to an infraction for loud and unreasonable noise,” Santiago told The Signal Friday. “She was fined $50 plus court fees and was given credit for one day in jail”.
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