Man gets three years for hit-and-run

A Huntington Beach man was sentenced Friday to three years in state prison for a hit-and-run that caused another driver severe injuries, according to the Orange County district attorney’s office.

Oscar Paz rear-ended a 66-year-old man’s Nissan while driving on the Garden Grove (22) Freeway at about 5 a.m. on Dec. 11, thrusting him across the freeway and causing him to crash into the center divider, prosecutors said.

Paz, who was driving on a suspended license, then fled the scene without helping the victim, parked his car in a nearby strip mall and called his girlfriend to pick him up.

The victim was transported to UC Irvine Medical Center in Orange, where he was in a coma for several weeks, prosecutors said.

The accident disabled the victim mentally and physically and caused him to question his faith, according to a victim impact statement presented to the court by the victim’s son, the district attorney’s office wrote in a news release.

Paz was convicted of one felony count of hit-and-run with permanent injury on July 26.

The victim continues to suffer from the accident and is unable to speak or walk, prosecutors said.

—Mona Shadia

Twitter: @MonaShadia