Joshua Gasser is accused of running down one of his California Heights neighbors, Lynda Vitale, and the 60-year-old's German Shepherd, Maggie, then fleeing the scene last December.
Gasser was discovered in January by the victim's daughter, Athena Alfaro, after she spotted Gasser's car driving near her mother's house while Vitale was in the hospital. Alfaro noticed the car matched the description of a blue Volkswagen seen in the area by neighbors who heard Vitale's screams and her dogs yelps after the pair were hit, then left bleeding in the roadway of 36th Street and Myrtle Avenue.
William Bruzzo, the attorney for the accused, appeared in the Long Beach Superior Court early Thursday, well ahead of the next scheduled court appearance. He told Long Beach Superior Court Judge Arthur Jean that his client wanted to change his not guilty plead in exchange for a promise of probation.
Jean nixed the idea of having the plea heard Thursday morning after a prosecutor pointed out that the victim had hoped to attend the next court date, which was orginally scheduled for March 19. The last-minute change of plans made it impossible for Vitale, who has been hospitalized from the time of the crash throughout February, to be there.
Vitale, a respected defense attorney who helped launch the City Prosecutor's Domestic Violence Unit, had made it about halfway through the unmarked crosswalk around 7:30 p.m. on Dec. 15 when she was hit so suddenly and so violently that she "never even saw what hit her," police said.
Her daughter was at court last month for a preliminary hearing setting and said that Vitale was still in the hospital and was making a very slow recovery.
Vitale suffered extensive injuries - including lacerations on her face, two broken and
dislocated shoulders, a fractured elbow, a fractured pelvis and a
fractured leg. She underwent several surgeries following the incident
and is expected to remain in the hospital for at least another two to
three weeks.
Her neighbors never heard the crash or a screech of brakes, but
they came running when they heard Vitale's screams and her dog's yelps. Vitale's German shepherd, Maggie, suffered similar injuries,
including a broken leg and fractured pelvis.
Maggie is also recovering and is even starting to use her
badly hurt back leg, Alfaro said in February. Vitale is highly regarded for her work as a defense attorney
and as a prosecutor.
She worked many years as a public defender specializing in
cases of women charged with attacking their spouses or boyfriends after
years of abuse.
That led Vitale to get a job at the Long Beach City
Prosecutor's Office, where she started its Domestic Violence Unit and
prosecuted abusers.
She was working as a private-practice defense attorney and
served as a bar panel attorney, handling many local cases for local
defendants unable to afford representation, at the time of the incident.
Gasser lives just a few doors down from Vitale with his
parents. He allegedly told his father that he had been involved in a
crash but said nothing of Vitale or the hit- and-run, sources said.
The bumper was changed on the car when police arrested
Gasser and impounded the vehicle. However, there were still signs of damage to
the car's front end and evidence was recovered from the
vehicle, police said in January.
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