A motorist charged with the hit and run death of Jose Luis Padron pleaded guilty April 6 to hit and run in the traffic fatality in Paradise Hills near National City.
Padron, 49, was getting an umbrella out of a car parked in front of his home on Albemarle Street in Paradise Hills on Jan. 19 when James Arthur Robbins, 47, struck and killed him while it was raining.
Robbins, who was driving his girlfriend’s silver Lexus, stopped for a few seconds, but then took off. A neighbor’s security camera captured the car, but not the impact.
Deputy District Attorney David McNees said Robbins faces a 10-year maximum prison term when he is sentenced on May 4. Robbins remains in jail without bail.
Robbins left the damaged vehicle at his girlfriend’s residence in Paradise Hills and fled. He was working, but did not show up at his job, and his girlfriend called police after she saw the damaged car.
After police examined the vehicle, they learned he was the driver who killed Padron. By then, however, Robbins was already in jail on a parole violation.
He has been to prison before and was convicted of two robberies in 1991 and 1996, according to court records. McNees said some of the proposed 10-year sentence reflects his prior convictions. He said probation has been ruled out.
Padron was on the other side of the street when Robbins was driving and he somehow veered into him. Padron was the co-owner of an auto mechanic business.
