A woman accused of evading authorities for four years after fatally striking a jogger in the South Bay’s Westchester neighborhood while drunk could spend six years behind bars, prosecutors announced Wednesday.
Brittnee Monique Crawford, 28, pleaded no contest to one count of gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated, according to the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office.
A detective who investigated the case previously said it was “almost impossible” to prove Crawford was impaired during the incident without blood-alcohol level testing. Witness statements and evidence, however, indicated she was intoxicated, Detective James Dixon said.
Crawford allegedly left the scene after hitting 62-year-old Paul Grover around 4:15 a.m. on Jan. 9, 2014 . The victim was jogging along Lincoln Boulevard at Bluff Trail Road, near Loyola Marymount University.
The woman initially stopped and told a bystander that she would take Grover to a hospital, Los Angeles police Capt. Robert Long said in 2018. The witness told her to wait for officers and paramedics, but Crawford allegedly fled on foot when police arrived.
Another witness described Crawford as highly intoxicated at the time, Long said.
Physical evidence inside the vehicle led detectives to Crawford, according to LAPD, which spent two years building a case before obtaining a warrant for her arrest in February 2016. But Crawford apparently moved between Moreno Valley, Perris and Las Vegas, and authorities weren’t able to arrest her until January 2018.
Her boyfriend, Joshua Walker, was arrested after he allegedly lied to detectives who had been looking for Crawford. He was initially charged with one felony count of being an accessory after the fact. The DA’s Office said that was dismissed in February.
Crawford and Walker were released two days after their arrest on Jan. 16, 2018, inmate records show.
Crawford is scheduled to be sentenced on May 16.