South Lake Tahoe man sentenced to 7 years in prison for DUI crash

South Lake Tahoe resident Patrick Bryan Baker was sentenced to seven years in state prison after he pleaded no contest to one felony count driving with a blood alcohol level over .08% and causing injury.

On August 27, 2017, the 42-year-old Baker drove his Nakto Electric Bicycle through a red light at a high rate of speed, hitting two pedestrians who were attempting to step into a crosswalk on Lake Tahoe Boulevard near Rufus Allen Blvd. The pedestrians, a couple in their 50's who were visiting from Southern California, both suffered broken arms and one also had an injured leg. Following the collision, Baker appeared as if he was preparing to leave the scene, picking up beer cans that had spilled from his bike onto the ground and trying to get back on the bike, before being told by witnesses that he needed to stay. When South Lake Tahoe Police attempted to detain Baker, he resisted and refused to put his hands behind his back and pulled away from officers. In response, the officers had to take Baker to the ground in order to arrest him. A subsequent breath tests determined Baker's blood alcohol to be 30/.31%.

On March 5, 2018, Judge Suzanne N. Kingsbury handed down the sentence. Baker's DUI sentence was enhanced because he has a prior "strike" stemming from a 2013 conviction for felony criminal threats.

The case was prosecuted by El Dorado County Deputy District Attorney Michael Pizzuti who is assigned to vertically prosecute felony driving under the influence cases and vehicular manslaughter cases for the El Dorado County District Attorney's Office under a Traffic Safety Grant from the California Office of Traffic Safety.