MONTEBELLO — Sentencing was postponed Thursday for a pickup truck driver who struck and killed an elderly Montebello woman and her dog in 2009, then fled the scene.
David Loera, 38, was ordered to return back to Los Angeles Superior Court Oct. 21 for sentencing, court officials said.
He faces up to 12 years in prison after being convicted last month of vehicular manslaughter with gross negligence and hit-and-run in connection with the Oct. 5, 2009 crash that claimed the life of longtime Montebello resident Norma Lambo, as well as her dog, Barney.
He struck Lambo as she walked at the intersection of Jefferson Avenue and Alfred Court, officials said. A passenger, who has not been identified, got out of the truck and removed Lambo’s walker from the front bumper before the truck continued on.
Co-founder of Montebello’s “Ashiya Sister Cities” organization, Lambo had deep ties to the Montebello community.
Loera, who had no driver’s license at the time of the crash because he had failed vision tests, was arrested three days after the crash after investigators found his truck being repaired at a local auto body shop.