Crime & Safety

Driver Pleads No Contest to Hit-and-Run Death of Pacifica Man

Steven Harry Heath, 60, is charged with vehicular manslaughter, killing 64-year-old George Michael Black of Pacifica.

 

 Bay City News Service

A Santa Rosa man pleaded no contest this morning to hit-and-run and vehicular manslaughter charges in connection with the death of a Pacifica man in February.

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Steven Harry Heath, 60, faces a maximum of four years in state prison when he is sentenced in Sonoma County Superior Court on June 5 for felony hit-and-run and misdemeanor vehicular manslaughter without gross negligence charges.

Heath is charged with killing 64-year-old George Michael Black, of Pacifica, who was struck by Heath's 2011 Mercedes Benz S550 in the 4600 block of Montgomery Drive in Santa Rosa around 1 p.m. on Feb. 27.

Find out what's happening in Pacificawith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Black was found on the south side of the road and was pronounced dead at the scene. He was walking to a nearby park when he was struck by the Mercedes.

Heath's attorney Steven Gallenson contacted police on March 1 and gave police Heath's address. Police found and impounded the Mercedes in the garage of Heath's home on Pepperwood Road in Santa Rosa.

Heath was arrested and booked into Sonoma County Jail, but posted bail and has been out of custody since then.

Deputy District Attorney Robert Waner said prosecutors will not recommend a specific sentence to Judge Jamie Thistlethwaite until speaking further with Black's family.

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