An ex-San Diego Gas & Electric employee, charged with hit-and-run in the death of a pedestrian run over by one of the utility’s trucks, waived his right to a preliminary hearing Thursday and will proceed to trial.
Hector Hoyt, 56, faces up to four years in state prison if convicted.
Hoyt was arrested Jan. 22, posted $50,000 bail and was released the next day. He was employed by SDG&E at the time of the accident but no longer works there, according to the company.
Through interviews with several witnesses and reviews of surveillance video from businesses around the site of the accident, detectives identified Hoyt as the driver who fled after the SDG&E-owned Ford 550 struck 54-year-old Robert Fisher in the 100 block of Jamacha Road in downtown El Cajon on the evening of Jan. 6, police said.
After being struck and knocked to the roadway while crossing the street mid-block, Fisher was hit by another vehicle, Lt. Randy Soulard said. The victim, a transient, died at the scene.
The second motorist stopped, called police and cooperated with investigators, according to Soulard.
Detectives determined Fisher was hit by a white utility truck with a logo on it, and a crane with a lift bucket fitted into the cargo bed. They tracked the vehicle the next day to Hoyt’s home in the 1100 block of Cloverleaf Drive in El Cajon home and impounded it.
At the time of the crash, Hoyt was off duty, Soulard said.
Judge Daniel Goldstein scheduled a readiness conference for July 29 and set trial for Sept. 3.
— City News Service
