Metro Philadelphia, March 28, 2011
Legislators pushing for increased hit-and-run penalties in Harrisburg saw their efforts stalled last year when Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Jake Corman said concerns about budgetary strains and prison overcrowding made it “difficult to support.”
That came several months after the Senate Transportation Committee voted 11-1 to catch up with neighboring states by raising the minimum sentence for leaving the scene of an accident where a victim suffers serious injury from 90 days to a year, and from one to three years for fatal hit-and-runs. This weekend, state Sen. Larry Farnese said he and several co-sponsors are going to try again. [Metro]
1423. Molalla, Ore. March 22. 67-year-old man on bicycle injured when struck by a 1995 Dodge Caravan minivan, silver or grey in color, which should be missing the passenger side mirror and have front-end damage. (See “And I Quote V” for more).
1424. University City, Texas. March 23. 50-year-old woman suffers non-life-threatening injuries when struck, while jogging, by a tan Chevrolet extended cab pickup, which stopped immediately after but did not stay until police arrived. (UPDATED)
1425. Towamencin Township, Pa. March 23. Woman struck and critically injured by an unidentified vehicle which fled the scene.
1426. Madison, Wisc. March 23. 12-year-old girl suffered non-life threatening injuries to her face and leg when struck by a dark maroon-colored Ford Edge or Lincoln MKX, with tinted windows, which fled the scene.
1427. San Bernardino, Cal. March 23. 60-year-old victim struck and killed by a vehicle which didn’t remain at the scene. “According to witnesses, they say that he actually put his hand out in an effort to push off of the vehicle or push away from the vehicle. He saw the vehicle coming, and he actually had kind of started to trot a little bit,” said Sgt. Rich Lawhead of the San Bernardino Police Department.
1428. Indianapolis. March 23. 56-year-old man riding motorcycle struck and killed by an unidentified vehicle which fled the scene.
1429. Tucker, Ga. March 21. 59-year-old man struck and killed a couple hundred yards from his house by an unidentified vehicle.
1430. Mount Pleasant, Texas. March 23. 63-year-old man suffers serious injuries when struck by a silver Ford car, possibly a Taurus, which fled the scene.
1431. Patterson, Cal. March 23. 55-year-old man injured when struck by a Ford Mustang which fled the scene.
Related stories:
And I quote (I) …
Wolverton says everyone that gathered around the accident scene on Friday afternoon was mad when they realized that the driver of the other vehicle in the crash drove off. He says he knew the driver of this car was badly hurt. “Took them about 45 minutes to cut her out and had to take her out,” he said. “They thought she probably had a broken back.”
And I quote (II) …
RICHLAND — Channing Winterrose returned from vacation to find his car totaled, damaged by a hit and run driver. When police were unable to find direct leads, Channing began to put the pieces together, taking left behind shards of headlight left by the suspect vehicle to a local auto dealer, who was able to identify a year, make and model.
And I quote (III) …
Flood’s Irish Pub in Stroudsburg closed early Sunday, the day the St. Patrick’s Day parade rolled through town. Employees of the bar on Main Street felt it was the right thing to do. Earlier that morning, one of the bar’s cooks, William “Billy” Risko, was killed in a hit-and-run only a block away.
And I quote (IV) …
Court documents allege that the woman who was arrested for the hit and run accident, Yvonne Addington, called Defebaugh’s cell phone on the night of the accident, “telling him that she thought she hit something.”
The documents indicate that Defebaugh then drove to the scene, found a body, and called 911, but that he “did not notify authorities who potentially struck the individual.”
About five hours after the accident, court documents allege that Defebaugh met with Yvonne Addington, his friend of 30 years, and told her “He did not find an animal on the side of the road but did find the body of a male.”
Court documents indicate that Defebaugh came clean with police in a statement given March 10th, the same day that Yvonne Addington was arrested, about five days after the accident.
And I quote (V) …
Police believe a silver or gray minivan hit her father, Thomas Christopher Mossman, as he biked to his friend’s house on Oregon 211 around 3:30 p.m. Tuesday. The motorist drove off, leaving the 67-year-old man bleeding and broken in a ditch on the side of the highway. When neighbors discovered him, he was lying in a fetal position.
Mossman remains in critical condition at OHSU Hospital, unconscious since the crash.
And I quote (VI) …
Seguin police want your help identifying one of two suspects wanted in connection to a hit-and-run.
Take a look at the surveillance video.
Police need your help identifying the man in the blue shirt.
The crash totaled the 2008 Mercedes, but the owner was able to get pictures of the suspects.
And I quote (VII) …
A Duluth woman who struck a pedestrian while driving drunk in 2009 is accused of violating her probation by speeding on her way to an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting.
And I quote (VIII) …
Diabetes is being blamed for a hit and run accident at about 12:45 p.m. yesterday. After allegedly hitting a car at Clark and Bille roads, police caught up with Carlos Meza at the green waste facility on American Way.
And I quote (IX) …
Nearly a year after 26-year-old Erica Sevigny was hit and killed on a dark Algoma Township road, her family and police are still searching for answers in her death.
Caught, convicted, court appearance or car-on-car in … Port Richmond (Philadelphia); Corpus Christi, Texas (pictured); Racine, Wisc.
More hit-and-run stories, including every volume of Hit-and-Run America (in reverse order), are accessible from this linked page. (The full Volume-by-Volume list will appear sporadically from now on.)