Court Commissioner’s Son Gets Home Probation in Killing of 3 Pedestrians

The teenage son of a Pomona court commissioner was sentenced Wednesday to home probation for an unspecified period and 500 hours of community service for killing three pedestrians when his vehicle careered into a crowd near a Pasadena school two years ago.

Orange County Judge Caryl Lee also suspended 18-year-old Jarett Olson’s driver’s license for a year and ordered him to pay restitution to the victims’ families. He also must attend a program that includes a visit to a hospital morgue.

Olson recently admitted to three misdemeanor counts of vehicular manslaughter. He had been charged with three felony counts of vehicular manslaughter and one felony count of reckless driving resulting in great bodily harm.

“He made an open plea, and the judge made a fair and just decision,” said Sandi Gibbons, a spokeswoman for the Los Angeles County district attorney’s office. She said the judge followed a probation officer’s recommendation for sentencing.

Olson’s sport utility vehicle hit families outside Chandler School on April 29, 2000, killing Sarah Karesh, 34, and daughter Madison, 3. Nicholas Montoya, 4, died later of head injuries. Prosecutors said Olson’s vehicle swerved into oncoming traffic then hit the families on the sidewalk.

Olson, of Pasadena, was charged in Juvenile Court because he was 16 at the time of the incident. If he had been an adult, he could have received up to three years in prison, Gibbons said.