SAN DIEGO -- A man who drove drunk and killed a woman as she got out of her car to go to work in Chollas View, then fled the scene, was sentenced Friday in a downtown courtroom.

Bruce Michael Hanson, 52, pleaded guilty in July to gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated.

Judge Eugenia Eyherabide sentenced the defendant to 11 years in state prison.

The defendant admitted running over 35-year-old Alejandra Vazquez with his sport-utility vehicle as her mother watched around 2:15 a.m. Feb. 19 near the Interstate 805 ramp at Market Street.

Defense attorney Gerald Blank unsuccessfully urged Judge Eugenia Eyherabide to place Hanson on probation so that he could talk to people about the dangers of drinking and driving when he got out of local custody.

Blank said Hanson, of Encanto, had no prior record and was employed until two days ago.

Blank said Hanson knew to drink at home and not drive. But the night of the accident, he consumed alcohol at an employee party and got behind the wheel.

Deputy District Attorney Michael Runyon told the judge that Hanson lied when he told a probation officer that he only drank socially twice per month.

According to medical records, Hanson told a doctor that he had 15-20 drinks a week and had smoked marijuana for 30 years, the prosecutor told the judge.

"Each time he drives, he's playing Russian roulette," Runyon said.

The judge said Hanson's actions were deserving of prison.

"Your acts were unconscionable," Eyherabide said.

The judge noted the significant damage to Hanson's car -- a cracked windshield and a broken light -- would have let anyone know they had hit someone.

Prosecutors said the victim was on her way to work at a catering company with her mother and was getting something out of the back of her car when she was struck by the defendant's vehicle, which was going about 40-50 mph.

According to prosecutors, Hanson fled the scene and tried to get rid of his car, disposing of the license plates and getting a haircut before being arrested at home the next day.

A worker at a salvage yard in Otay Mesa -- who had seen news accounts of the hit-and-run -- called San Diego police to report someone had abandoned a Subaru Forester with blood on the damaged front end, keys on the dashboard and no license plates.

Police said investigators used the vehicle identification number to trace the vehicle to Hanson, who upon his arrest showed traces of minor injuries consistent with a car accident.