Death by Cop 2021-2025
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Gilberto Sotelo
Age : 38
Gender : Male
Race : Latino/a/e
Date : 08/07/2023
Location : Interstate 215 southbound, south of State Route 91
City : Riverside
County : Bexar
State : Texas
Agency : Bexar County SO
Officer(s) :Giovanni Ceja
Cause of Death : Vehicle
Event : Pedestrian bystander killed by intoxicated correctional corporal who committed hit-and-run
OPEN RECORDS SUMMARY :
On 08/07/2023, Gilberto Sotelo was refueling his disabled pickup truck on the shoulder of southbound Interstate 215, south of State Route 91, in Riverside when he was struck by a Honda Ridgeline driven by Giovanni Ceja, an off-duty Bexar County (Texas) Sheriff's Office correctional corporal who was visiting family in California. Investigators alleged Ceja had consumed multiple alcoholic beverages before driving. Sotelo died at the scene, and the driver fled without stopping to render aid.
California Highway Patrol investigators identified Ceja through vehicle debris left at the scene. He was arrested in Texas on 08/14/2023 by the Bexar County Sheriff's Office on a California warrant. Ceja resigned from the sheriff's office following his arrest and was dishonorably discharged. He was later extradited to California and charged with second-degree murder, DUI-related offenses, and felony hit-and-run causing death.
