Texas man given 10 years’ probation in deadly hit-and-run

A Texas man was recently sentenced to 10 years’ probation for not stopping after he hit a woman with his Jeep as she walked along the shoulder of the road during the early morning hours one day in October 2012. Police said that a man was driving when he and a friend left a bar. When they came to an exit, the man’s 2008 black Jeep Wrangler hit a 28-year-old woman as she walked along the shoulder of the highway.

The force of the impact threw the woman into a guardrail and caused the Jeep’s airbags to inflate and its T-top to blow off, but the man continued to drive off. Early the following morning, a person who walked by the scene of the car accident, found the woman’s body. Her personal belongings were strewn around and a T-top was found as well. After the woman’s body was found, a patrol officer remembered seeing the Jeep’s T-top fly off and ran the Jeep’s license plate.

Police soon after went to the man’s house near Dallas. They found the Jeep in the driveway, which had discernible damage and bodily fluid evidence on the passenger side door, hood, fender and grill. When the man came to the door, police said he smelled of alcohol. The man acknowledged that he had struck something but did not know what it was. He told police that he came back to the accident scene, but he did not see anything and drove to his house.

Jurors convicted the man of a crash involving injury or death, which is a third-degree felony. He could be punished by probation to 10 years in prison. The man was sentenced to 10 years’ probation, and he had to pay a $10,000 fine. The man did not have a criminal past. The judge also ordered the man to stay at a lockdown facility for 120 days, and to erect a memorial at the accident scene where the woman was killed.

There is never a good explanation for an individual not to stop after being involved in a car accident. A hit-and-run driver, if found and arrested, could face serious criminal penalties. They may be sentenced to years in prison, thousands of dollars in fines and loss of their driver’s license. In addition, a civil suit may be filed by the victim’s family to recover compensation for their losses.

Source: nbcdfw.com, “Arlington Man Gets 10 Years Probation in Fatal Hit-and-Run” No author given, Apr. 28, 2014