A repeat DUI offender whose toddler was in the back seat when she struck a jogger in Pacific Beach while drunk, then drove off and hit a parked car, was sentenced Wednesday to five years in state prison.
Amanda Mae Brodd, 27, pleaded guilty in April to DUI, child endangerment and hit-and-run and admitted driving on a suspended license and resisting arrest in the accident that seriously injured 23-year-old Brian Dewhirst.
"I didn't see her coming," Dewhirst told Superior Court Judge Daniel Link.
Dewhirst said he was knocked unconscious and wound up with a badly cut face, a broken hip, leg, foot and nose.
The victim said his recovery was so rough he had thoughts that he wished he would have died in the accident.
"All I did was go on a run," Dewhirst said. "It really dimmed my outlook on life. All in all, it just really sucked. It's not fair. I felt like I kind of got screwed."
Because of the accident and his injuries, Dewhirst said he missed out on an important job interview.
Dewhirst's father told the judge that the amount of pain his son went through was "unbelievable."
Deputy District Attorney Matthew Dix said Brodd hit a car in the parking lot near the roller coaster in Mission Beach the evening of Feb. 15, then took off instead of remaining at the scene.
Brodd drove three miles and turned onto Crown Point Drive, where she missed a turn, drove onto a sidewalk and hit Dewhirst, who was running away from her.
Dewhirst, an emergency medical technician and ambulance driver, was thrown onto the hood of Brodd's car.
After the 6:15 p.m. accident, Brodd drove off again. She eventually hit a parked vehicle on Lamont Street, which disabled her car, and she was kept at the scene until officers arrived.
Brodd -- who was on probation for a 2011 misdemeanor DUI conviction -- refused a required breathalyzer test and was arrested, according to the prosecutor. Her 3-year-old daughter was found unhurt in the back seat, but the child's car seat was not installed properly, Dix said.
The defendant had a blood-alcohol content of .26 percent, more than three times the legal limit for driving, according to Dix. He said that Brodd kicked a police officer who was helping to administer the blood test.
Link denied a defense request that Brodd serve her sentence in a fire camp program.
"She had a prior DUI. She knew better," the judge said.
