John Hines, Long Beach Fire Captain (Handout Photo) |
SEAL BEACH, Calif. (KTLA) -- A Long Beach Fire captain was formally sentenced Tuesday for injuring a cyclist in a hit and-run crash while driving with a blood alcohol level three times the legal limit.
John David Hines, 39, pleaded guilty in September to one felony count each of driving under the influence of alcohol causing bodily injury, driving with a blood alcohol .08 percent or more causing injury, hit and run with injury, and sentencing enhancements and allegations for causing great bodily injury and having a blood alcohol level over .20 percent.
The judge ordered Hines to serve five years of formal probation and one year in jail.
He was also ordered to pay $102,000 in restitution to the victim.
District attorney's spokeswoman Farrah Emami said if Hines violates his probation at any time, he must serve four years and four months in state prison.
Hines, of Huntington Beach, is accused of getting drunk at the Schooner or Later bar in Long Beach early on April 1 and then getting behind the wheel of his Chevrolet pickup, according to prosecutors.
He was driving erratically about 1:20 p.m. on Westminster Avenue in Seal Beach when he lost control and swerved into the bike lane and dirt shoulder, according to a news release from the Orange County District Attorney's Office.
At that time, prosecutors say he slammed into bicyclist Jeffrey Gordon, and drove away.
Two witness followed Hines to his home and reported the incident to police.
Gordon, 47, suffered head trauma, severe cuts and bruising, internal injuries and spinal injuries, prosecutors said.
John David Hines, 39, pleaded guilty in September to one felony count each of driving under the influence of alcohol causing bodily injury, driving with a blood alcohol .08 percent or more causing injury, hit and run with injury, and sentencing enhancements and allegations for causing great bodily injury and having a blood alcohol level over .20 percent.
The judge ordered Hines to serve five years of formal probation and one year in jail.
He was also ordered to pay $102,000 in restitution to the victim.
District attorney's spokeswoman Farrah Emami said if Hines violates his probation at any time, he must serve four years and four months in state prison.
Hines, of Huntington Beach, is accused of getting drunk at the Schooner or Later bar in Long Beach early on April 1 and then getting behind the wheel of his Chevrolet pickup, according to prosecutors.
He was driving erratically about 1:20 p.m. on Westminster Avenue in Seal Beach when he lost control and swerved into the bike lane and dirt shoulder, according to a news release from the Orange County District Attorney's Office.
At that time, prosecutors say he slammed into bicyclist Jeffrey Gordon, and drove away.
Two witness followed Hines to his home and reported the incident to police.
Gordon, 47, suffered head trauma, severe cuts and bruising, internal injuries and spinal injuries, prosecutors said.
