A motorist charged with felony hit-and-run for a car accident which took the life of a 25-year-old pedestrian was expected to enter into a plea agreement with prosecutors. The accident took place earlier this year on a dark portion of state Route 35 in Pacifica, California.
The 58-year-old driver was coming from a party and his Mercedes struck and killed the pedestrian. He claimed that the man walked out into the middle of the road and that he was not able to stop in time to avoid the collision. He further asserted that the pedestrian was engaged in illegally crossing the road and may have been intoxicated.
The motorist did not stop at the scene of the accident, or call 911, but instead drove home in a panic, where he phoned an insurance agent and discussed the accident with his wife. The insurance agent instructed him to return to the scene of the crash. When he did so, police took him into custody, charging him with misdemeanor DUI as well as felony hit-and-run.
While the driver claimed that his drinking had been limited to a single beer, police believed that he was intoxicated. A test of his blood alcohol level conducted approximately 60 minutes after the crash registered .06, well under the limit of .08. The dead pedestrian was an enlistee in the U.S. army and scheduled to go on active duty in the summer of 2011. He had also applied for a job with the San Francisco Police Department and was on a waiting list of those eligible for a position.
San Francisco Examiner “Plea deal likely in fatal Pacifica hit-and-run,” Mike Aldax, Nov. 27, 2011