The man arrested in the hit-and-run crash that killed a Weld County deputy in September 2022 has been sentenced to prison.
Norberto Garcia-Gonzales, now 37, was sentenced to 24 years in the Department of Corrections last week, the maximum sentence allowed under state law, according to the Weld County District Attorney’s Office. He previously pleaded guilty to leaving the scene of an accident resulting in death, a Class 3 felony.
Garcia-Gonzales was arrested in Fort Collins on Sept. 19, 2022, the day after he was involved in a crash with Weld County Deputy Alexis Hein-Nutz, 24, of Windsor, who was riding her motorcycle to work at the Weld County Jail at the time.
Hein-Nutz was declared dead at the scene of the two-vehicle crash that occurred at the intersection of Weld County Road 37 and AA Street in unincorporated Weld County about 5:30 p.m. Sept. 18, 2022. Colorado State Patrol investigated the crash and determined that the other driver — later identified as Garcia-Gonzales — failed to yield to Hein-Nutz who had the right-of-way at a stop sign, according to a news release from the district attorney’s office.