LAPD sergeant charged with killing teen in DUI hit-and-run

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(David McNew/Getty Images)

TUSTIN, Calif. - A Los Angeles Police Department sergeant has been charged with DUI for a crash in Tustin in February that killed a 19-year-old.

What we know:

Orange County officials charged Carlos Gonzalo Coronel of Beuna Park on Wednesday with felony driving under the influence and hit-and-run that resulted in death.

PREVIOUS COVERAGE: LAPD sergeant arrested in connection with fatal Tustin hit-and-run

The backstory:

The crash happened on Feb. 1. Just before 4 a.m. that day, prosecutors said Coronel was drunk, driving near the intersection of Nisson Road and Del Amo Avenue on the way to his girlfriend's house when he hit and killed 19-year-old Imanol Salvador Gonzalez, who was walking in the street.

According to officials, just before the crash, Coronel was out drinking with his brother-in-law.

After hitting Gonzalez with his truck, officials said, Coronel drove off and left Gonzalez to die. Two people found Gonzalez's body in the road later that morning and called police.

Coronel's girlfriend drove him back home to Buena Park last night, and on the way, prosecutors alleged that he told her to avoid the road where the crash happened. Later, officials said Coronel searched online to see if there was a hit-and-run crash in Tustin, and even went to the crime scene.

What they're saying:

Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer called it "unconscionable that an officer who swore an oath to protect and serve would leave a man to die in the street after hitting him while driving under the influence of alcohol. Imanol was loved by his family, and he did not deserve to have his story end lying in the middle of a dark Tustin street alone while the police officer who hit him drove away because his self-preservation was more important than a human life."

What's next:

Coronel will be in court for an arraignment on June 27. He faces a maximum of six to eight months in state prison if convicted.