Last Updated on June 25, 2020 by C-CAR
A former El Monte detective started serving a 90-day sentence in county jail this week for a 2016 hit-and-run in La Verne in which two people were injured.
Eric Johnston, 44, was also sentenced on Tuesday to three years probation and 60 days of Caltrans service, according to Greg Risling, a spokesman for the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office.
In addition, court records show, the judge ordered Johnston to complete a three-month first-offender alcohol and other-drug education and counseling program.
His attorney couldn’t be reached for comment on Thursday.
Although he was sentenced to 90 days in county jail, the sheriff’s booking system shows a projected release date of July 31.
Johnston took a deal and pleaded no contest on March 2 to one count of felony hit-and-run driving resulting in injury, and one count of felony insurance fraud.
“We have nothing to do with him,” El Monte Police Chief Dave Reynoso said, adding that Johnston resigned from the Police Department on March 5.
Johnston had been on unpaid administrative leave before he quit. He had worked at the El Monte Police Department for more than 15 years, Reynoso said.
Off-duty, Johnston was driving a Camry when he crashed into a car at Bonita and Damien avenues in La Verne on March 15, 2016. He fled. The Rancho Cucamonga couple in the car he hit ended up in a hospital.
About a year after the crash, La Verne police received an anonymous letter, with information about the case, asking them to look into the hit-and-run.
Although Johnson had sold the Camry, police found the car and identified he was the owner at the time of the hit-and-run. The DA’s Office filed charges against Johnston in 2019.
