Driver Pleads Guilty in Crossing Guard’s Death

A man pleaded guilty Tuesday to running down an elementary school crossing guard in Whittier while driving drunk. Patrick Robert McLaughlin, 43, of Anaheim, changed his plea before his preliminary hearing in the death of John Antonio Vela.

McLaughlin pleaded guilty to one count each of gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated and hit-and-run causing death, Deputy Dist. Atty. Daniel Nixon said. There was no plea agreement.

McLaughlin, who faces a maximum sentence of 10 years, eight months, was scheduled to be sentenced Aug. 6. McLaughlin struck and killed Vela the afternoon of June 8 as the 66-year-old guard was escorting two girls in a crosswalk near Lake Marie Elementary School. Police said Vela, a Pomona resident, was wearing an orange reflective vest and carrying a stop sign. Authorities said about a dozen children, most of them kindergarten age, saw the accident.