Driver to serve three years for fatal hit-and-run

A driver whose SUV struck and killed a bicyclist from Irvine in a December 2009 hit-and-run accident in Newport Beach received a three-year state prison sentence Friday, according to the Orange County district attorney’s office.

Patricia Ann Izquieta, 38, of Riverside, pleaded guilty Feb. 1 at Orange County Superior Court in Santa Ana to charges of felony hit-and-run, causing death or injury, felony vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated without gross negligence, and misdemeanor driving without a license with an enhancement for causing great bodily injury, a news release said.

Izquieta’s Saturn hit Donald Murphy, 49, on Jamboree Road about 6 a.m. Dec. 9, 2009. Murphy was thrown from the bike, which was then dragged under Izquieta’s car for a mile before she stopped at a Coco’s Bakery down the road, where police arrested her.

Murphy was transported to Western Medical Center in Santa Ana, where he died a day later from severe head and neck injuries sustained in the crash.

Police determined that before the crash, Izquieta had taken prescription medication, including Methadone, Hydromorphone and Clonazepam, which impaired her driving.

The victim’s daughter, brother and two friends — one of whom had been riding with Murphy when Murphy’s bike was struck from behind — gave victim impact statements Friday morning at the Santa Ana courthouse.

They cited his work in a halfway house, where he volunteered his time to help addicts, as testament to his being a great man, the Orange County district attorney’s office said in the release.