A Caltrans transportation engineer who struck and killed a pedestrian in Mission Hills will serve a one-year work-furlough term instead of going to prison after pleading guilty to felony hit-and-run.
San Diego Superior Court Judge Lisa Rodriguez sentenced 59-year-old William John Christian to two years of probation, fined him $820, revoked his driver’s license and ordered him into a residential work-furlough program starting March 2. Until then, he remains free on $100,000 bond. The victim, 69-year-old Steven Mark Davis, died hours after the early-morning collision.
Prosecutors say Christian was driving home from Barona Casino around 4:30 a.m. when he hit Davis as the pedestrian crossed Hancock Street between Witherby and Noell Streets around 5 a.m. Video from a nearby business captured the crash and the type of car involved, and prosecutors said cell phone data placed Christian at the scene. When arrested, he acknowledged he had been driving a Dodge Challenger, though police never found the vehicle. The judge gave Christian credit for four days already served and ordered him to surrender on March 2 to begin the work-furlough term, according to Times of San Diego…