Motorist gets seven years in fatal hit-and-run accident

A La Mirada man was sentenced Wednesday to seven years in prison for striking and killing a 72-year-old pedestrian with his car last year, officials said.

Geoffrey Matthew Rocha, 28, pleaded no contest last month to vehicular manslaughter, admitting that he had struck Ray Quintanilla of La Mirada on Sept. 20, 2011, and then fled the scene.

The impact of the accident, which took place at the intersection of Santa Gertrudes Avenue and Lawnhill Drive, was so great that Quintanilla’s arm was severed and carried away by the fleeing car, officials in Dist. Atty. Steve Cooley’s office said.

The arm was found a mile from the accident scene.

Rocha later surrendered to Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies in Norwalk. He has been in jail since then. In addition to the prison sentence, he was ordered to pay $7,565 to Elida Quintanilla for burial expenses and coroner's fees and $4,964 to the state's victim compensation fund, officials said.

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-- David Zahniser