Vancouver man sentenced to 3 months in hit-and-run

A Vancouver motorist who caused a serious injury crash and fled the scene in December was sentenced Friday to three months in jail.

Epen Nazareth, 34, pleaded guilty in Clark County Superior Court to hit-and-run injury. He was accused in connection with a Dec. 9 crash on state Highway 500.

The two-vehicle collision was reported shortly before 1 p.m. on westbound Highway 500 near Interstate 205. Manuel Lomeli was driving a Toyota pickup west near the Northeast 112th Avenue onramp when a Chevrolet Trailblazer, driven by Nazareth, struck him while changing lanes, according to a probable cause affidavit.

Lomeli lost control of the Toyota, and it rotated counterclockwise and struck the median, causing it to roll and come to rest on the driver’s side, the affidavit said.

Lomeli suffered a large cut on his scalp that required staples to close, court records said.

Nazareth failed to stop at the scene, according to court documents. However, a witness took down the vehicle’s license plate number.

Washington State Patrol troopers tracked the vehicle to its registered address and later to Nazareth’s work in Portland, court records show. The Chevrolet had damage and paint transfer, the affidavit said.

On Friday, Judge Daniel Stahnke agreed to follow the attorneys’ previously agreed-upon sentencing recommendation and also sentenced Nazareth to 12 months of community custody. His driver’s license also will be suspended.