Huntington Beach man pleads guilty to 2017 fatal hit-and-run in Fountain Valley

A Huntington Beach man was sentenced Monday to 15 years in state prison after he pleaded guilty to gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated in Fountain Valley in 2017.

Justin Scott German initially pleaded not guilty in 2018 to a murder charge and denied a sentencing enhancement that alleged he fled the scene after committing the vehicular manslaughter of Binh Ngo. In his plea Monday, however, German admitted to fleeing the scene of the crime.

Police alleged at the time of German’s arrest that he was driving a red Ford Mustang north on Brookhurst Street at around 12:50 a.m. on Sept. 13, 2017, when he struck a bicyclist and drove away. Fountain Valley police later found Ngo, 41, between two parked cars and pronounced him dead at the scene.

Broken Mustang parts were discovered in the roadway, leading investigators to put out a notice seeking help in identifying the suspect.

Authorities said that German’s family noted significant damage to his car and asked a neighbor — a retired Huntington Beach police officer — for advice about how to contact police after seeing a report about the crash on the news. That neighbor later called authorities.

German admitted in police interviews to having drunk two shots of alcohol and two beers at a bar in Huntington Beach and feeling intoxicated while driving home.

German will next appear in court for a firearms relinquishing hearing at the West Justice Center in Westminster on Aug. 30.

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