Woman Sentenced to Prison in Hit and Run Fatality

Defendant Nancy Jeannethe Serrano, 26 years old of Santa Rosa, was sentenced today to 3 years in state prison by the Honorable Mark Urioste following her convictions in November of last year for leaving the scene of an accident, vehicular manslaughter, and driving on a suspended license.

The charges resulted from a collision on Highway 12 near Madrone Road on the evening of June 5, 2020 at about 8:20pm. Adrian Albert was riding his bicycle westbound on Highway 12 when he was struck from behind by Serrano’s vehicle. Serrano continued driving into the City of Sonoma where she parked her car in a quiet residential area and then left the area on foot. Serrano ultimately contacted law enforcement and confessed to being the driver of the vehicle that fled the scene.

District Attorney Ravitch stated, “When someone is involved in a collision, they have a legal obligation to stop and render aid or call for help. Serrano’s actions demonstrated that she was only concerned for herself and a state prison sentence demonstrates how seriously my office handles these cases.”

Adrian Albert who was originally from Romania, earned his master’s degree at Stanford University and his Ph.D. at Massachusetts Institute for Technology. He was the founder and CEO of a start-up company called Terrafuse which aimed to use artificial intelligence to provide actionable climate information, including prediction of extreme climate events. Mr. Albert had moved from San Francisco to Sonoma because of its rural setting and it reminded him of his hometown in Romania.

This case was investigated by the Napa Area CHP office and Lyn McCarthy with the Sonoma County District Attorney’s Office and prosecuted by Matt Hubley. Judge Mark Urioste presided over the case.