Driver in Hit-and-Run Death Given 3-Year Term
A woman who stuck and killed a pedestrian, fled the scene, and then repaired her windshield to eliminate evidence must serve three years in prison and pay $5,000 in restitution, a Pomona judge ruled Monday.
Beth Ann Smith hit Mary Louise Rodriguez, 17, about 8:45 p.m. on Aug. 7, 1998, near Ramona and Washington boulevards in El Monte, said a spokeswoman for the district attorney’s office.
Smith fled, and then she and her husband repaired the car’s windshield and cleaned the car to erase any trace of the accident, the spokeswoman said.
A friend of Smith’s reported the crime to police.
Judge Robert W. Armstrong sentenced Smith to three years in state prison. He also ordered her to pay $5,000 to the state Board of Control, which gave that much money to Rodriguez’s family to pay for funeral expenses.
Start your day right
Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
