Man Sentenced for Killing Pedestrian in Pasadena DUI Crash

A man received a 15-year prison sentence Monday for fatally striking another man with his pickup truck while driving drunk last year in Pasadena, then fleeing the scene, authorities said.

Higinio Juarez Arceo, 42, pleaded no contest in June to a charge of gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated, according to the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office. He also admitted to the special allegation of fleeing the scene of the Oct. 6, 2019 crash on Colorado Boulevard, between Madison and El Molino avenues.

Anthony Miller, 31, was killed in the crash, officials said. He was visiting Pasadena from Minnesota when he was struck, according to his family.

Miller was crossing Colorado Boulevard mid-block about 3:15 a.m. when he was struck by a westbound pickup truck, Pasadena police officials said at the time. The truck continued on.

Investigators soon found the truck in an underground parking structure several blocks away. Arceo was arrested when he returned to retrieve the vehicle.

He was originally charged with murder, gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated, vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated, and hit-and-run, Los Angeles County Superior Court records show. Upon pleading no contest in June to the charge of gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated, the other counts were dropped.

He received the statutory maximum of 10 years for the manslaughter, plus an additional five years for fleeing the scene, said District Attorney’s Office spokesman Ricardo Santiago.