VISTA — Julianne Elyse Thomson, 24, was sentenced Monday to a six-year sentence in state prison for the drunken crash and hit-and-run that killed a grandfather while he was riding his bicycle to work in Carlsbad last summer.Thomson entered a guilty plea on Jan. 12 to gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated and hit-and-run causing death.
Vista Superior Court Judge Daniel Goldstein imposed her sentence for causing the death of Arthur John Jacobs, 64, who was struck by a Ford F-150 truck Thomson was driving on El Camino Real near Cassia Street abound 9:45 p.m. last July 27.
Jacobs had been riding his bicycle to work at The Park Hyatt Aviara, which was less than 2.5 miles away from where the fatal crash happened.
According to Carlsbad Police, a witness said the young woman driver crashed into a curb and some bushes in front of a block wall before fleeing at a high speed into a parking lot around the corner. The responding emergency crew pronounced the Vista bicyclist dead at the scene.
Carlsbad Police found Thomson hiding in nearby bushes about 15 minutes later, at an apartment complex where she parked the Ford truck.
Prosecutor Aimee McLeod said Thomson’s blood-alcohol level was .25 percent after the crash, which is more than three-times the legal limit.
“She was facing a range of sentences, from a felony probation term all the way up to 15-years in prison,” McLeod said after one of the defendant’s previous hearings.
Thomson originally entered a not guilty plea and posted bail on $100,000, but at an August hearing Vista Superior Court Judge Marshall Y. Hockett said she was a danger to the community and doubled the bail amount to $200,000.
Thomson maintained her innocence even after her preliminary hearing in November 2011 when a judge deemed enough evidence was presented for the defendant to stand trial.
But the plea agreement was reached before the trial began.
Thomson’s attorney, criminal defense attorney Richard Muir, said Thomson was very remorseful.
He said she had been receiving therapy while out on bail. According to reports, the victim’s family was not present at the sentencing but Thomson read an apology statement.
