SAN FRANCISCO (BCN)--A man who drove his SUV into the Bay in San Francisco's Marina District last month with three teenage passengers inside has been acquitted of  reckless driving and child endangerment charges, according to the  public defender's office.

     

Agapito Hernandez, 38, was arrested early the morning of March 4  after witnesses told police that they saw him doing "donuts" in his 1999  Dodge SUV in the area of the Gashouse Cove Marina near Fort Mason before he  lost control and his car plunged into the water.

     

Hernandez and the three teens in the car were all able to escape  without injury, police said.

     

According to the public defender's office, Hernandez had been on a  late-night crabbing trip with his two sons and their friend.

     

Hernandez had tried to back out of a parking space in the lot at  about 3 a.m., and when the car wouldn't move, he hit the gas harder and the  SUV spun out of control, going in one-and-a-half circles before driving into  the water, according to the public defender's office.

     

At the two-day trial in San Francisco Superior Court, Hernandez's  sons testified that the incident was an accident, according to the public  defender's office.

     

A jury deliberated for less than two hours on Tuesday before  finding him not guilty of child endangerment, reckless driving and giving  false information to an officer, according to the public defender's office. 

 

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