Last Updated on June 19, 2017 by CCAR Staff
POMONA >> A Pomona man who stole a car from his neighbor while intoxicated, triggering a crash that killed another driver while fleeing from police at speeds topping 120 mph, was sentenced Monday to 18 years to life in prison.
Michael D. Gardner, 39, was convicted April 20 of second-degree murder for the May 7, 2015, collision near West Arrow Highway and Mariposa Street that killed 32-year-old Marissa Leigh Vasquez of Pomona.
Jurors also found Gardner guilty of gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated, driving or taking a vehicle without consent, fleeing a pursuing police officer causing serious bodily injury and driving with a license that was suspended or revoked due to a prior DUI conviction.
According to a lawsuit filed against Gardner by Vasquez’s fiance, the woman was driving a 2010 Honda Civic west on West Arrow Highway when she was hit from behind at such high velocity that her car was pushed sideways and split a utility pole, then rolled nearly 400 feet before coming to rest upside down.
Prosecutors said Gardner stole the vehicle he was driving from a neighbor, and he had a 0.27 percent blood alcohol content — more than three times the legal limit — at the time. A police officer tried to pull Gardner over, but he sped away, hitting speeds of up to 127 mph, prosecutors said.
After he struck Vasquez’s car, Gardner tried to flee on foot.
