RENO, Nev. (AP) - A Reno man who was arrested hours after a fatal hit-and-run accident in 2018 thanks in part to a tip from an employee at a windshield repair shop has been sentenced to 10 years in prison.
Washoe District Court Judge Barry Breslow sentenced 27-year-old Cruz Ochoa Tuesday after he pleaded guilty in December to one count of leaving the scene of a fatal crash in the death of 66-year-old Richard Pratt.
Police say Pratt was walking in the crosswalk at the intersection of Wells Avenue and 6th Street at about 4 a.m. when he was hit and killed on Nov. 30, 2018.
Detectives were pursuing leads from nearby surveillance footage later that morning when an employee at a local glass repair shop just blocks from the scene of the crash called police to report a driver with a vehicle that matched the description was attempting to get his windshield fixed.
Prosecutors say Ochoa apologized for his carelessness at his sentencing. He explained he fled the scene because he was scared and asked for a two-year prison sentence.
But the judge agreed with Deputy District Attorney Christopher Day, who argued for the 10-year sentence to protect the community and hold Ochoa accountable for the crime.
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