LAPD Sergeant's Daughter Pleads No Contest in Fatal Hit-and-Run

A bicyclist was struck and killed in the June 26 hit-and-run cash in Gardena

The daughter of a veteran Los Angeles Police Department sergeant pleaded no contest Wednesday to vehicular manslaughter and other charges in the hit-and-run death of a bicyclist last summer.

Vanessa Marie Yanez, 23, entered her plea to one felony count each of leaving the scene of an accident and perjury and one misdemeanor count of vehicular manslaughter, the Los Angeles County District Attorney's office said.

Sentencing was scheduled for Sept. 25. Yanez faces two years in state prison, prosecutors said.

In June 2013, Yanez was driving on El Segundo Boulevard near Vermont Avenue in Gardena when she struck bicyclist Jesse Dotson Jr., prosecutors said.

The vehicle was found at Yanez's home, less than a mile from the site of the crash. Investigators told NBC4 she had reported the car stolen hours after the collision.

Yanez surrendered to police, admitting that she had been drinking before the crash, Gardena Police Lt. Steve Prendergast said.

Gardena police confirmed Yanez is the daughter of LAPD Sgt. Arturo Yanez.

Dotson, a 60-year-old postal worker, was pronounced dead at a hospital three days after the crash.

Jonathan Lloyd and Hetty Chang contributed to this report

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