A drunk driver who seriously injured a Pacific Beach jogger was sentenced June 1 to five years in state prison and will have to serve 85 percent of that term before she can be paroled.
Amanda Mae Brodd, 27, of Carlsbad, struck Brian “B.J.” Dewhirst, Jr. 23, near his home on a sidewalk on Crown Point Drive Feb. 15 after hitting two parked cars. His pelvis, leg, and other bones were broken.
“Five years at 85 percent is no cake walk,” said San Diego Superior Court Judge Dan Link. “It certainly will not be pleasant for Ms. Brodd.”
Link ordered Brodd to pay $500 to one car owner and a restitution hearing about Dewhirst’s injuries will be held July 20. She received credit for 107 days in jail and was fined $6,574.
Link denied a defense request to recommend Brodd be housed in a fire camp, saying that would have allowed her more prison credits. “I remember thinking on multiple occasions that I wish I died in the accident because I couldn’t endure the misery anymore,” said Dewhirst to the judge.
“B.J.’s body smashed her whole windshield,” said the victim’s father, Brian Dewhirst Sr. “B.J. will bear the scars from this incident for a lifetime.”
“She has no remorse…she had no insurance,” said his father, who asked Link to “send a message to the drinking establishment in Pacific Beach” with the sentence.
“There is an epidemic of DUI in this community,” said the judge. “It isn’t stopping.”
Brodd’s blood/alcohol level was .27 at the time, which is three times the legal limit, said Deputy District Attorney Matthew Dix. Her 3-year-old child was in the car at the time in a car seat that was not properly fastened, he added.
The prosecutor said Brodd was drinking alcohol in a restaurant in Pacific Beach, which contributed to her intoxication.
Brodd pleaded guilty to driving under the influence of alcohol and child endangerment. She also pleaded guilty to two counts of hit and run, and to driving with a suspended license. Dix said she lost her license because of a prior DUI in 2012.
The first parked car she struck was in a parking lot near the roller coaster in Mission Beach and drove 3 ½ miles before hitting Dewhirst. Brodd struck a second car after she hit him.