Crime & Safety
Driver In Freakish North Hollywood Hit & Run Fatality Pleas
A driver, who killed a man who had just been thrown out of a North Hollywood bar into the street, pleaded no contest to hit-and-run.
NORTH HOLLYWOOD, CA — A motorist, who failed to stop after his car struck and killed a man who landed in a North Hollywood street after being punched by a bar bouncer, pleaded no contest Monday to felony hit-and-run.
Jorge McDonald Jr., 23, entered the plea during a pretrial hearing in a Van Nuys courtroom. Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Richard H. Kirschner set sentencing for Feb. 1.
The bouncer, Ernest Shawn Reyes of Arleta, was initially charged with murder. He pleaded no contest in December to involuntary manslaughter in the Dec. 15, 2016, death of 47-year-old Wilfredo Rodriguez and was sentenced last week to 180 days in county jail, 240 hours of community labor and three years probation.
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Rodriguez was intoxicated at the time of the struggle with Reyes and fell into the street outside the bar in the 6300 block of Lankershim Boulevard, where he was struck by a dark-colored sedan driven by McDonald, authorities said.
City News Service; Photo: Shutterstock