Concord: Felony case falls apart, driver gets diversion for killing 84-year-old man
MARTINEZ — A driver in a three-car crash that killed an 84-year-old man was sentenced to diversion after a police investigator changed his mind on the witness stand at the defendant’s preliminary hearing, court records show.
Martin Baglien, 29, had been charged with felony vehicular manslaughter until his 2024 preliminary hearing, when a judge accepted a police investigator’s conclusion that the victim played a role in the crash, and reduced it to a misdemeanor case. Baglien then received a one-year probation term — set to expire this October — and was ordered to do 80 hours of community service, records show.
Wesley Watson, 84, was killed in a three-car crash near a fast food restaurant in Concord, a little before 6 p.m. on Aug. 18, 2022. Police at the time said a vehicle pulled out of an El Pollo Loco parking lot on the 1500 block of Monument Boulevard and was struck by a car. The force of the collision sent the car that was struck into oncoming traffic, where another car ran into it.
Watson was killed, and no other injuries were reported, authorities said.