Jarrod Rusnak has pled guilty to a hit and run that killed a man on a bicycle in LaSalle last June.
Rusnak, 38, was sentenced to eight months in jail for the hit and run and another 30 days for breach. He will spend another 111 days in jail.
The incident took place in the 800 block of Huron Street on June 18, 2015.
LaSalle police say Kevin Emisch, 38, of Windsor was rushed to hospital, but later died.
Rusnak’s lawyer, Bob Dipietro says he's remorseful.
“Obviously, had he turned himself in, he would have been on lower end of range of sentencing,”says DiPietro. “He didn't turn himself in.”
Rusnak was arrested and charged by police five days after the incident.
“He wants to put the matter behind him and try and get back to work and become a productive member of society, if that’s possible,” says DiPietro.
In June, Rusnak was released on $5,000 bail, one of his conditions at that time, was he was not permitted to associate with any witnesses involved in the case.
But today, he was found guilty to a breach. He was found with the woman who the victim was going to see at the time of the crash.
“Both the victim and the accused had a prior relationship with this woman,” says Rusnak. “I don' think that the act itself was intentional. The offence itself is leaving the scene of accident when someone is struck, then months later, the accused is found with that person again.”
In court, Emisch's sister read a victim impact statement on behalf of her mother, who said she thinks about her son every day and has a hard time sleeping, ever since he was killed.
Surveillance video captured the SUV leaving the scene, but not the actual strike. Still, Rusnak's lawyer says there was evidence to tie him to the collision.
“The car was taken to forensics,” says DiPietro. “The underlying of the vehicle, the paint from vehicle matched the bike the victim was riding.”
When he's released from jail, Rusnak will be on probation for 18 months. He must provide a DNA sample and cannot drive for 15 months.