HARRIS COUNTY, Texas — Bond was reduced Tuesday for a man accused of killing three men in a golf cart crash in Cypress in the community of Towne Lake.
Hours after the crash, the driver of the SUV that hit the golf cart was charged with three counts of murder, according to the Harris County Sheriff's Office.
Daniel Rivera, 21, was back in court Tuesday afternoon where a judge lowered his $600,000 bond to $525,000 or $175,000 for each case. The state initially recommended a $1 million bond for each murder charge, but the judge set it at $200,000 for each count before it was reduced.
His bond conditions were set in probable cause court Sunday and require him to get an ignition interlock device in any vehicle that he intends to drive. He cannot drive without permission from the court, is required to wear an electronic monitoring device, comply with a curfew from 7 p.m. to 7 a.m., is required to get a scram device that will monitor if he's been drinking, and cannot go anywhere within 50 feet of an establishment where alcohol is sold.
The crash
The crash happened around 3 a.m. Sunday at the intersection of Greenhouse Road and Towne Lake Parkway in the Cypress area.
According to authorities, Rivera was driving a black Cadillac Escalade and he ran a stop sign at a four-way stop before crashing into the golf cart at the intersection. Three men were in the golf cart at the time -- Jacob Wnuk and Fraser Anderson were pronounced dead at the scene and Christopher Scandridge was taken to a hospital where he was pronounced dead, too.
Three people were inside the SUV at the time of the crash, including a woman and an 8-year-old. Gonzalez said the child was OK and handed over to relatives. The man and woman in the SUV were taken to a hospital with what Gonzalez said were non-life-threatening injuries.
Later Sunday evening, HCSO announced that Rivera had been arrested and charged with murder. They said he had been drinking alcohol before the crash and was intoxicated. According to court documents, the emergency staff at the hospital said Rivera's blood alcohol content was .136. The legal limit in Texas is .08.
According to the Texas Department of Motor Vehicles, it's OK to drive a golf cart on a road as long as it has proper plates.
Here's an update provided by Gonzalez and HCSO Major Susan Cotter before they knew that Scandridge died:
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