WESTMINSTER - A driver was convicted and sentenced today for hitting and killing a man on a bicycle and then fleeing the scene. Adam Carl Garrett, 19, Huntington Beach, pleaded guilty to a court offer to one felony count of hit-and-run causing death and one misdemeanor count of vehicular manslaughter without gross negligence. He was sentenced to 180 days in jail, 200 hours of community service, $14,000 in restitution to the victim’s family, and three years of formal probation. The People objected to the sentence based on the nature of the crime and the lack of regard for human life displayed by the defendant.
Shortly before 3:00 a.m. on May 15, 2011, Garrett was driving northbound in his Toyota Camry on Interstate 405 in Fountain Valley. The defendant exited the freeway at Warner Avenue and traveled westbound toward Huntington Beach. He crashed into the back of a bicycle, throwing 25-year-old bicyclist Hung Khac Do off his bike. Do landed in the far right lane of Warner Avenue. Garret caused damage to his car consistent with colliding with a person riding a bicycle.
After hitting the victim, Garrett fled the scene without assisting Do or contacting police and paramedics. He returned to his home in Huntington Beach approximately four miles away.
Soon after the hit-and-run, a limousine driver driving on Warner Avenue saw the victim lying on the road and called his brother, who called 911. Another driver on Warner Avenue stopped to assist Do and a passenger got out to administer Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation until police arrived at the scene. Once an ambulance arrived, Do was transported to University of California, Irvine Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead 40 minutes later. An autopsy determined the cause of death to be multiple blunt force trauma injuries.
At approximately 3:20 a.m., Garrett called 911 and falsely reported his involvement in the incident. Sometime that morning, police contacted Garrett at his home and located his damaged car nearby.
