A Los Osos woman convicted of driving drunk and hitting and killing a bicyclist in San Luis Obispo in 2017 is back behind bars, charged once again with DUI.
The San Luis Obispo County District Attorney’s Office says Gianna Brencola, now 22, was arrested in Morro Bay on Oct. 31, 2021, after hitting several parked cars. Her BAC was reportedly 0.32.
In April 2018, Brencola was sentenced to seven years in state prison for hitting and killing bicyclist and Cal Poly student Kennedy Love.
San Luis Obispo police said Brencola, who was 17 at the time, fled the scene before being arrested at her home several hours later.
Even hours after the crash, Brencola’s blood alcohol content registered above 0.15 percent.
She turned 18 a short time later and was tried as an adult.
The DA’s Office says the Morro Bay arrest could be the second strike against Brencola under California’s Three-Strikes Law.
She was taken back into custody at the request of the DA's Office during a court appearance on Feb. 28 once prosecutors learned of her previous conviction, according to court records.
She has pleaded not guilty and is due back in court on May 11.
The DA’s Office says Brencola was paroled from the California Department of Corrections in December 2019 and discharged from parole in March of 2021.
It was not immediately clear what led to her reduced sentence but the DA’s Office says they were told she took part in a Custody to Community Transition Re-entry Program for more than nine months in 2019.
