Chino Hills, CA: Man admits ramming stopped car, causing death

A Chino Hills man pleaded guilty Tuesday to vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated for ramming a BMW into a car that was stopped at a red light in January 2010, causing the death of an 18-year-old woman was sitting in the passenger seat.

Robert Charles Serrano, 37, now faces a potential 33-year prison term at his sentencing April 14 by Superior Court Judge Craig E. Robison.

Robison will hand down his sentence after he reviews a probation report and listens to victim-impact statements from friends and relatives of victim Corbin White, a graduate of Villa Park High School.

About a dozen of those supporters, including White's mother and father, watched Serrano plead guilty Tuesday. They sat in the courtroom gallery wearing purple – White's favorite color – and lapel pins with her photo.

She died from massive injuries at Western Medical Center several hours after Serrano raced the 2006 BMW sedan into the intersection of Main Street and MacArthur Boulevard shortly about 2 a.m. Jan. 3, 2010, and rammed into a 2006 Toyota Scion that was stopped at the red light.

The collision knocked the Scion into the intersection, where it was struck by oncoming traffic in a chain-reaction crash.

White, who worked at the Corner Bakery in Anaheim, died several hours later at Western Medical Center.

Serrano, who has two drunken driving convictions and an alcohol-related reckless driving, fled after the collision, leaving a friend injured in the passenger seat of the BMW, according to prosecutors.

He was arrested about 10 hours later at his mother's home in Fountain Valley.

Serrano also pleaded guilty to penalty-enhancing allegations for causing injuries to three people, including White's boyfriend, who was driving the Scion, and for leaving the scene. He also has a strike prior for a previous felony conviction for robbery.