In Re Tommy A.

This case, which involves restitution for a victim of criminal conduct by a juvenile delinquent, arose in May 2003 when then 16-year-old Tommy A., while driving a car belonging to Maribel Cardenas, one of his mother’s friends, without a driver’s license or permission, accidentally rear-ended the victim’s car and fled the scene. Cardenas’s insurance carrier fully paid the victim under a settlement agreement for her economic losses, which totaled $5,126.76. The victim signed a release of liability that expressly released Tommy of liability for “all claims, demands and causes of action” the victim might have against him for the recovery of “damages” for “injuries, losses and damages of whatever nature” that she had sustained as a result of the car accident.

Thereafter, in a juvenile delinquency proceeding, Tommy admitted a charge of misdemeanor hit and run resulting in property damage. (Veh. Code, § 20002, subd. (a).) The juvenile court placed Tommy on probation. (Welf. & Inst. Code, § 602.) As a condition of probation, the court ordered him to pay victim restitution in the amount of $5,126.76 under Welfare and Institutions Code section 730.6, subdivision (a)(1) (section…