Springs man sentenced for hit-and-run crash that killed UCCS student

A man was sentenced to 25 years in prison for killing a UCCS student in a hit-and-run crash.

The sentence was handed out on Friday for the crime that happened back in October of 2017.

Vincent Garcia pleaded guilty to hitting and killing the student and fleeing the scene of the crime.

Garcia, 27, hit two people crossing the street near the college campus the weekend before Halloween last fall. One of those victims, 18-year-old Zachary Schlagel, died at the scene. The other person only suffered minor injuries. A third member of the group was crossing with the other two but not hit.

Garcia drove away after the collision but turned himself in two days later. Tuesday, more than six months after the crash, he pled guilty to two felony charges.

UCCS said Schlagel was a freshman pre-engineering student from Severance, Colorado.

"We are deeply saddened," the university chancellor said.