VISTA (CNS) - A two-year prison term was handed down today for a motorist who struck a bicyclist and left him to die along a Rancho Santa Fe road.
Jin Hyuk Byun, 20, pleaded guilty in October to felony hit-and-run causing death. He was sentenced by Vista Superior Court Judge K. Michael Kirkman.
The defendant was behind the wheel of a black 2008 Chevrolet Avalanche that struck 18-year-old Angel Bojorquez sometime after 1 a.m. last July 6.
The victim, a grocery clerk at an Albertsons supermarket in Del Mar, was riding north near Paseo Delicias toward his home in Escondido when the defendant's SUV drifted onto the shoulder and struck him, authorities said.
Bojorquez's body was found in shrubs along a curvy section of Via De La Valle.
When questioned about damage to his SUV, Byun first said it hadn't been driven recently because of electrical problems but eventually told CHP investigators what happened.
Byun told officers he thought he hit a mailbox, deer or dog, according to the CHP.
Prosecutor Aimee McLeod said the defendant knew he had struck a person, noting Byun drove five miles home after removing a tire after the accident.
