SANTA ANA — A 42-year-old man pleaded guilty Tuesday and was immediately sentenced to a year in jail for a hit-and-run crash that killed a pedestrian in Santa Ana.

Eric Serafin Bahena pleaded guilty to a felony count of hit-and-run with permanent and serious injury and a misdemeanor count of destroying evidence.

Bahena accepted a plea deal from Orange County Superior Court Judge Terri Flynn-Peister, who sentenced him to 364 days in jail and placed him on two years of formal probation. He was given credit for 282 days behind bars since his arrest.

31-year-old Ralph Marin of Santa Ana was killed after the collision, police said. Bahena then tried to destroy the vehicle that struck the victim, according to court records and police.

Officers were dispatched at about 12:30 a.m. Oct. 20 to Bristol Street and Park Lane, where the victim was found in the roadway, according to the Santa Ana Police Department.

Police set up surveillance at two places in Santa Ana to track down the suspect and the vehicle involved in the collision. Bahena was arrested leaving a home in the 1800 block of West Glenwood Place, and the vehicle was found in the 1600 block of West Third Street, police said.

He was convicted of buying or receiving a stolen vehicle or equipment in April 2005, and pleaded guilty in March 2016 to driving under the influence of alcohol and without a valid driver’s license, according to court records.

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