City Employee Faces Four Years of State Prison in Hit-and-Run Death

• Plea Deal Agreement Calls for Two Concurrent Terms

BY BILL KOENEKER

In a plea agreement approved by the court, Robert S. Sanchez, a Malibu city employee who crashed into a bicyclist last year, fatally injuring him on Pacific Coast Highway, pled no contest to two felony counts and was sentenced to two separate four-year terms to be served concurrently in state prison, according to authorities.

A restitution hearing is scheduled for July 30, when Sanchez, who remains out on bail, is to surrender himself to authorities to begin serving his sentence immediately, according to a spokesperson for the Los Angeles County Court Clerk’s office.

Rodrigo “Rod” Armas, 45, died after he and his son were struck by Sanchez, who fled the scene of the accident. The two Armases were participaing in an established cycling event and adhering to the rules of the road. The fatal hit-and-run crash took place on June 28,  2009, near the 34000 block of PCH.

Armas died at the scene, while his son suffered serious injuries.

Sanchez, who was accused of being intoxicated, attempted to flee from the scene and was found a short time later hiding in nearby brush, according to the sheriff’s department report on the incident.

The spokesperson from the court clerk’s office said two lesser charges were dropped and Sanchez was convicted by Judge Lawrence Mira, who denied probation and ordered Sanchez to serve four years in state prison on violating vehicle code 20001(a), which states that a driver of a vehicle involved in an accident resulting in injury to a person, other than himself or herself, or in the death of a person shall immediately stop the vehicle at the scene of the accident.

Sanchez, who was convicted on a second count of the penal code 192(c)1 vehicular manslaughter with gross negligence, was denied probation and ordered to serve a separate four-year term concurrently.

Sanchez had remained on the job as a records clerk at Malibu City Hall during the 13 months of scheduling and rescheduling of court dates in the case.