Man who tried to run over two boys in Santa Ana gets only one year in jail

Nicolas M. Sanudo, a 40-year-old man, pleaded guilty on Tuesday and he was sentenced to only a year in jail after he tried to run over two teenage boys in Santa Ana.

Sanudo was able to work out a plea deal with the prosecutors and just like that two felony counts of assault with a deadly weapon were dismissed.

Sanudo ended up pleading guilty to two counts of assault with force likely to produce great bodily injury, two counts of vandalism and leading police on a chase, all felonies, as well as single misdemeanor counts of hit- and-run with property damage and resisting arrest.

Sanudo was also given credit for 14 days behind bars so far so he really won’t be serving a full year in jail.

Sanudo is scheduled to report to jail by Aug. 30 to begin serving his short sentence.

Police were called at about 4:40 p.m. on Feb. 21, 2023, when witnesssaw a driver of a passenger van trying to run over two pedestrians at MacArthur Intermediate School, police said. The victims were boys who were 13 and 14-years old.

Sanudo sped off when SAPD police officers showed up at the scene and tried to pull him over. A police pursuit ensued that finally ended after he crashed into a water channel at 3000 S. Flower St. This caused his van to roll over and then catch fire. Sanudo then tried to run away, but the police officers quickly found him in a drainage tunnel and placed him under arrest.