Andrew Gay Jr. didn’t say anything worst-person-on-earth worthy today!

Well, that was an interesting three, four minute hearing to reconcile a debate over the terms of renowned Temple University hit-and-run artist Nick Hasselback’s bail.
He, his parents and some other dude sat directly in front of me in Courtroom 405 at the CJC, his father turning around to ask “Are you Brian?” at one point after they left for an out-of-courtroom chat with super-attorney Andrew Gay Jr. (When they came back in, Nick sat between mommy and daddy, as opposed to sitting to the right of them beforehand.)

The defendant wore blue, 99-buck-suit-rack blue and continually fiddled with his hirstute ponytail with both hands. He seemed antsy, nervous. And the parents, the mom at least, gave off a pissed vibe. I’d feel bad for them if their son would just cop to running away and leaving Tony Foltz to die on the Ben Franklin Parkway. Shame revisionist history isn’t real history, huh?

So anyway, the hearing about where Nick Hasselback will stay as he faces a trial which, in all likelihood won’t land him more than 82 more days in jail because of Pa.’s lax hit-and-run punishment, was a quickie, but a good quickie.

ADA Lynne O’Brien initially wanted him restricted to his apartment on the 4100 block of Ridge (near where he ditched his shattered-windshield ride), but since their lease is allegedly up in May, the city settled for restricting him to mommy and daddy’s in Ephrata. He didn’t talk much during the hearing, but assented via nod to Judge Joe Waters that he wouldn’t drive until the case is over.

Wanting him to surrender his drivers license and right to drive is where things got interesting. Seems as if Hasselback’s apartment was the scene of a home invasion in March, at which point, the alleged “perpetrator(s)” stole Nick’s wallet and, by default, license. Seems he didn’t bother getting a replacement. Which means he was driving without a license the night he hit Foltz. Peculiar, since he was out at a Center City bar beforehand. Wonder how he got in. Wonder if I should make an issue of a Center City bar (I know which) potentially having sent a wee lad off into the night with car keys and a potential buzz. Gonna roll that one around for a bit.

I’ll call Police Public Affairs when I get home (writing this on BlackBerry in the CJC lobby) to inquire about the “home invasion” report at a second-floor apartment in a relatively low-crime neighborhood to see whether there’s any manhunt on for Nickie’s license. (UPDATE: There was, in fact, a home invasion on March 3. Involved three black males and shotguns and a safe getting emptied along with a stolen laptop. The details ring true with one that I read about in The Fallser that caught my attention.)

Maybe I should’ve given them the opportunity to comment when we were within eight feet of each other outside (I think Gay was looking at me to approach, but I couldn’t lift my eyes from an online story about an alleged mistress-related-murder), but truth be told it’s hard to be impartial covering a hit-and-run hearing when you have to go get testing done on your shoulder in three hours from injuries suffered during a hit-and-run.

Meanwhile, the preliminary hearing is scheduled for June 8. Unless anything new happens – like Hasselback’s dad wanting to follow-up with comment – I’ll get back to this case in due time. There’s more than enough hit-and-runs across the country to keep me busy till then and, let’s be honest, I’m fixated on the Hasselback case because it happened right in my backyard. All of these cases warrant public attention.