Local News in Brief : Man Gets 8 Years in Freeway Crash Case

A 32-year-old man accused of trying to kill his girlfriend by crashing his car on the Simi Valley Freeway was sentenced Thursday to 8 years in prison.

Carlos Campos Olivarez pleaded guilty to attempted murder and robbery in the Aug. 6 incident in which Jeannette Canon suffered cuts and bruises over most of her body.

Canon, who had been a passenger in Olivarez’s car, testified in a preliminary hearing that he beat her as he drove on the freeway. Olivarez let go of the steering wheel, and the car, which was traveling west, plunged down an embankment into a car stopped in rush-hour traffic in a westbound lane, she testified.

Olivarez jumped out of his car and tried to escape in another car after forcing a woman and her 2-year-old son to get out, she testified. However, witnesses blocked his escape so he ran to a nearby house, where he hid in a closet until police arrived, authorities said.

A Los Angeles police detective testified that Olivarez said he wanted to kill Canon and himself.

However, Canon asked for leniency at the sentencing Thursday, saying she did not believe Olivarez had intended to kill her.