Drunk driver to serve six years for killing jogger

A Ventura County Superior Court judge sentenced Nicholas LaGrotta, 23, to six years in prison April 3 for killing a pedestrian while driving intoxicated.

The Santa Rosa resident pleaded guilty in November 2008 to gross vehicular manslaughter after the Subaru Forester he was driving struck and killed Thousand Oaks resident Karey Marsh, 46, as she was jogging the early in the morning of Aug. 26, 2008.

Marsh was running in the bike lane on Lindero Canyon Road near Bowfield Street between Oak Park and Thousand Oaks when LaGrotta's car hit her. She was pronounced dead at the scene. LaGrotta had a blood alcohol level of 0.08 percent, officials said.

Prosecutors had sought the 10-year maximum penalty.

Judge Kevin McGee also included an order requiring LaGrotta to pay restitution of $126,000 to Marsh's fiance and $3,798 in damages to the city of Thousand Oaks. —Nancy Needham