North Bay man nabbed in hit-run death of UC Berkeley lawyer

Attorney Christopher Patti was killed Sunday. Attorney Christopher Patti was killed Sunday. Photo: UC Berkeley / UC Berkeley Photo: UC Berkeley / UC Berkeley Image 1 of / 1 Caption Close North Bay man nabbed in hit-run death of UC Berkeley lawyer 1 / 1 Back to Gallery

A man with a history of public drunkenness and vandalism in the small North Bay community of Monte Rio has been arrested in the weekend hit-and-run death of UC Berkeley’s top attorney, officials said Thursday.

Jonathan Ritter, 28, was picked up by police after stumbling into the center of the 1,100-person town Tuesday afternoon, California Highway Patrol officials said.

Ritter was booked on suspicion of vehicular manslaughter, felony hit-and-run and driving without a license.

Authorities had been searching for Ritter after identifying him as the driver of a car that slammed into and killed 59-year-old Christopher Patti along Highway 116 near Guerneville on Sunday morning.

Before Sunday’s episode, Ritter was well known in Monte Rio, where he had been caught sleeping in public parks and was accused of smashing windows and other acts of vandalism.

“When he gets drunk, he gets stupid and breaks stuff,” Monte Rio Fire Chief Steve Baxman said.

He said Ritter recently broke the windows of a bus stop across from the fire station, vandalized the windows of a “knickknack shop,” and smashed the controls of a town streetlight.

Ritter lived in a neighboring town and drifted into Monte Rio in recent months, where he “started hanging out with the other people on the corners,” Baxman said.

Though he knew Ritter as a town troublemaker, Baxman said he was surprised to learn he was accused of killing Patti.

“He’s just a young man who needs to grow up and get some direction,” he said. “This whole thing is just sad.”

Patti had been cycling Sunday morning and stopped along the road to look at his phone when he was struck. He was pronounced dead at the scene.

The driver had lost control of a BMW as the car entered a curve westbound on the highway. After striking Patti, the driver sped away from the scene.

Patti’s death came as a shock to the UC Berkeley community. Before he was hired as the school’s top attorney, he worked for two decades as an attorney for the UC president’s office.

Evan Sernoffsky is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: esernoffsky@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @EvanSernoffsky