A.G. woman wore monitoring device at time of fatal hit-and-run, officer says

An Arroyo Grande woman was wearing a monitoring device on her ankle when the car she was driving slammed into a bicyclist last fall, a witness testified in court Wednesday.

The District Attorney’s Office believes Michelle Yvonne Hart, 45, was driving under the influence when she veered onto the shoulder of Los Berros Road near Nipomo, killing Glen Harley Fulton, 48.

After the collision, Hart allegedly fled from the scene.

After the preliminary hearing Wednesday, San Luis Obispo Superior Court Judge Jacquelyn Duffy ruled that there is enough evidence to pursue several charges against Hart, who had a history of DUI offenses.

During the hearing, Amedee Irey, a CHP officer who was dispatched to the scene on Oct. 1, said the initial 911 call came from a motorist driving along Los Berros a little after 11 a.m. After passing Fulton, the witness, Glenn Lehman, heard a collision, Irey testified. When he looked in his rear-view mirror, Lehman saw a cloud of dust and debris, then saw Hart speed past, her windshield broken, Irey testified.

Lehman followed the car and eventually reported the driver’s license to a 911 dispatcher.

Irey said he found the car shortly after that, parked roughly five miles from the crash site in Nipomo. The Honda had a smashed windshield, a dented hood and a pushed-in roof.

“At the top of the windshield ... I located hair and blood,” Irey testified.

Inside the car, he said, he found a broken-off piece of a chin strap that had come from a bicycle helmet.

When he spoke to Hart, he said, she was “upset, nervous, distraught.” Irey said she admitted to smoking pot the night before, snorting a line of methamphetamine two days earlier and drinking Mike’s Hard Lemonade that morning. Hart, who has pleaded not guilty, also said she took medicine for high blood pressure, Irey said.

When Irey administered intoxication tests, he said, Hart had difficulty maintaining her balance and touching her nose with a finger.

Robert Willoughby, another CHP officer, said Fulton’s bike was found upside down, against a chain-link fence beside the road. Willoughby estimated that Fulton had been thrown 100 feet from the impact.

The county probation department had required that Hart wear a monitoring device due to a past offense. According to the device, Irey testified, Hart was traveling at 59 mph on Los Berros around the time of the accident.

According to a breathalyzer test given roughly two hours later, Irey said, Hart’s blood alcohol level was 0.06. A blood draw taken more than three hours later showed a blood alcohol level of 0.04 percent.

In California, it’s illegal to drive with a blood alcohol level of 0.08 or higher. Irey said blood alcohol level will drop 0.02 percent per hour.

After her arrest, Hart was charged with gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated, driving under the influence causing injury, leaving the scene of an accident and driving with a suspended license. According to the criminal complaint, Hart has previous DUI convictions from 2007 and 2010 and a conviction for driving with a suspended license from 2014.

According to court records, she has another drunken-driving conviction from 1989 and convictions for possession of a controlled substance from 2007 and 2011. She has also been convicted of commercial burglary.

Hart will appear in court again March 25.

This story was originally published February 18, 2015 at 4:53 PM with the headline "A.G. woman wore monitoring device at time of fatal hit-and-run, officer says."