A Lopez Island man was ordered to serve 30 days in jail for walking away from the scene of high-speed crash and leaving behind a friend whose injuries proved too severe for him to leave the scene.

On Aug. 3, Jon Eric Ogston, 50, pleaded guilty in San Juan County Superior Court to one count of felony hit-and-run, a Class C felony offense, and to reckless driving, a gross misdemeanor. As a first-time felony offender, Ogston qualified for sentencing below the standard range of sentencing set by the state, three to nine months in jail, and was ordered to serve 30 days in jail and to pay $1,200 in fines and fees.

Under the sentence handed down by Judge Don Eaton, Ogston will be allowed to serve 30 days on the Sheriff’s Department work crew, in lieu of jail.

The court received about 20 letters from family, friends and business associates of Ogsten, vouching for his character and asking for leniency in sentencing.

According to court documents, Ogston left his home and drove to Hummel Lake in the early evening of a mid-October day to pick up a friend who had been at the lake, along with his dog, relaxing and drinking, and wanted to get a ride back to his home. Ogston had also been drinking prior to getting into his car and leaving for the lake, according to court records.

The two men were southbound on Lopez Sound Road at about 7 p.m. when Ogston reportedly swerved to avoid a deer, lost control of his Honda Civic along a bend in the road, shot across the roadway and then slammed head-on into a tree. The two men were traveling at about 60 mph when Ogston lost control of the vehicle, according to court documents.

The force of the impact thundered through the floorboard below the front passenger seat, shattering his heel bone and causing a shard of broken bone to puncture an artery, which in turn bled to a life-threatening degree in the hour or so that followed. Ogsten left the scene of the crash and walked to his home seven miles away after trying without success for about 20 minutes to flag down a passing motorist.

According to court documents, a driver stopped at the scene shortly after Ogsten had left and called 911. His friend was flown to a Bellingham hospital where his injuries were treated, and where an emergency room doctor told authorities that the man would likely have died from loss of blood without timely treatment of his wound.

In late November, Ogsten was charged with reckless driving and felony hit-and-run, which carries maximum penalties of five years in prison, a $10,000 fine, or both. Prosecutors later upped the felony hit-and-run charge to vehicular assault, a Class B felony, and then agreed to reduce the charge back down to the lesser felony with expectation of a guilty plea to that offense.