A man described as homeless died in Mercy Hospital, located in Springfield, Missouri, after suffering serious injuries in a car accident. He had been rushed there by helicopter after the incident. Police subsequently arrested the hit-and-run driver whose vehicle inflicted brain and spinal injuries on the victim, causing him to die twelve days later.
The arrestee recently pled guilty to criminal charges of failing to stop his vehicle following an accident involving death or injury, a felony. He also admitted his guilt on misdemeanor charges of lacking auto insurance and driving without a valid license. He reportedly stated that he had not stopped to render assistance after the accident, as required by law because he knew that he would be going to jail.
When arrested, he at first provided a false alibi which police were able to disprove. He was found when police were given a tip by someone who said that his car, a Ford Taurus, matched the description of the vehicle involved in the fatal accident. Investigating officers found damage to the front end of the car.
The 22-year-old driver responsible for the accident was sentenced to five years probation and 120 days in a county detention center. While the accident victim may have been homeless, he did have family, who learned of his injuries, hospitalization, and ultimate death at the hospital after the crash.
The motorist could be subject to a wrongful death lawsuit over the accident by the victim’s surviving family. Regardless of the dead man’s station in life at the time of his death, he was a human being entitled not to be so callously left without assistance when injured on the streets by a driver whose carelessness is clearly indicated by his attitude after the accident as well as by his lack of even a driver’s license or insurance. Such behavior should not be tolerated. With such a driver, any pedestrian, motorist, or passenger on the streets could have been the victim.
Source: 5 News Online.com, “Fayetteville Man Pleads Guilty in Hit-And-Run Death” Larry Henry, Oct. 03, 2013