A serial drunk driver who hit and killed a 91-year-old Montecito evacuee shortly after the debris flow will be sentenced to 13 years and six months in prison, according to court documents.
The driver, 27-year-old Goleta resident Nicholas Hart, struck George Theodore “Ted” Johnson ― a Casa Dorinda resident who’d evacuated with his wife ahead of the January 9 storm to the downtown La Quinta Hotel ― in a marked crosswalk at the intersection of State and Micheltorena streets on January 23. Hart fled the scene but was arrested a short time later. His blood alcohol content was 0.24, over three times the legal limit.
Police said Hart was speeding on a suspended license and has two prior DUIs on his record. Officers searching his car found a half-full bottle of vodka in the center console that he’d been drinking prior to driving that night.