West Jordan man sent to prison for up to five years in fatal '09 hit-and-run

SALT LAKE CITY — How Ronald Torres could have hit Milton Patterson — a man of no small size — and not realize it was not only unbelievable to Patterson's family, but to the judge who sent Torres to prison Monday.

"(Patterson) was hit so hard he was knocked out of his shoes," 3rd District Judge Robin Reese said. "It's hard for me to believe that you didn't understand you'd made contact with him."

Reese promptly sentenced Torres, 30, to the maximum penalty for failure to remain at an accident involving death, a third-degree felony. He ordered the man to serve a term of zero to five years in prison, and a concurrent sentence of one year for negligent homicide, a class A misdemeanor, in connection with the Oct. 23, 2009 accident.

Reese also ordered Torres to pay $7,000 in restitution and any additional costs Patterson's family might still owe in medical and funeral expenses as well as potential therapy treatment.

Torres was driving south on Bangerter Highway when he rear-ended Patterson's van while it was stopped at a red light near 4700 South.

Patterson got out of his car to inspect the damage and Torres backed up, then drove forward, striking Patterson and running the red light. Torres said in court he thought he may have hit something as he was fleeing the scene, "but I didn't think it was hard."

Family members said Patterson was actually dragged along the road for a time and suffered road rashes so severe he had to be buried in a plastic suit.

"It wasn't no bump," Patterson's son, Ryan, said after the hearing, noting that his father was 6 feet, 1 inch tall and weighed more than 350 pounds.

Police arrived to find Patterson unconscious with severe brain injuries, facial fractures and respiratory problems. He was taken to Intermountain Medical Center, where he died a week later.

Two hours after the accident, Torres called police to report that his vehicle had been stolen. When officers located the vehicle not far from Torres' apartment, they found no signs of forced entry but the car showed collision damage, the documents state.

Torres initially insisted his car was stolen, but eventually admitted to driving the vehicle on the night of the accident. This initial dishonesty was one of many reasons Reese said he made the decision to order the prison sentence.