A Durango woman has been sentenced to three years in prison after being found guilty in June of hitting a pedestrian and leaving the scene of the accident.
Jerica Rozanne Cook, 37, was facing probation to six years in prison for the most serious charge, leaving the scene of an accident causing serious bodily injury.
A 12-person jury also found her guilty of vehicular assault, tampering with physical evidence and reckless driving. She was found innocent of failure to report an accident.
In addition to serving three years in prison, Cook will be on parole for five years after her release. District Judge Suzanne Carlson imposed the sentence Friday.
The incident occurred about 8 p.m. April 28, 2014, in the 3000 block of County Road 203, a few miles north of Durango city limits.
Prosecutors said Cook was trying to pass three vehicles on a double-yellow line when she swerved between two cars and ran off the right side of the road. She struck Joshua Walker, 25, who was walking on the side of the road.
The impact left a large dent in the hood of Cook’s car and broke the windshield.
Cook pulled over and got out of her car, but she quickly ran back to her car and drove away, said witnesses.
One witness was able to obtain a partial description of her license plate and called 911.
Her car was found about a week later in a private shop on Animas View Drive with the license plates removed. Dried blood on the car matched that of Walker’s.
Walker suffered a traumatic brain injury for which he has lingering effects.
During the five-day trial in June, public defenders faulted the police investigation and said differing witness accounts were “unreliable.” They said it is possible a truck traveling in front of Cook was the first to hit Walker, but police were so convinced Cook was guilty that they focused all their efforts on finding her and failed to thoroughly investigate other vehicles in the convoy.
District Attorney Todd Risberg said Cook stopped to see what she had done and fled the scene.
“That’s offensive to everyone,” he said.
shane@durangoherald.com
