5/21/2020 ~ 1PM Hit and run driver of Jeep killed 3 y.o. Carson, who was riding in a trailer pulled by father. Carson’s mother was also injured.
The family was north on the eastside (that’s an odd way to describe it; it appears to describe the group was cycling “in the direction of traffic”) of 70th Avenue, just north of Villa Theresa Drive, when a vehicle heading south ran over the bike trailer.
This is a wholly residential area.
3-year-old boy killed in Glendale collision
Posted Friday, May 22, 2020 8:12 pm
… Police said the couple’s 3-year-old son was being pulled in a child-bike trailer behind the father’s bike. The family was riding north on the eastside of 70th Avenue, just north of Villa Theresa Drive, when a vehicle heading south ran over the bike trailer, police said. The vehicle also struck the mother, they said…
Police said they located the suspect vehicle at a residential home a few blocks away from the collision scene. Police identified and interviewed two suspects, though no arrests appear to have been made yet… “The investigation is ongoing at this time,” Glendale police stated. “When changes are made in the case we will provide an update. At this time we do not require any assistance from the public, while we appreciate their support.”
Suspect Arrested
The story mentions video.
Glendale police: 18-year-old arrested in connection to hit-and-run crash that killed toddler
Glendale police say Collin Jones was arrested on June 4…
Police say a family of four was riding bicycles in a single-file line when a white Jeep drove on the wrong side of the road and ran over a child trailer that was being towed by the father’s bicycle…
After the collision, the Jeep struck the mother on her bicycle, knocking her to the ground. The Jeep missed a 5-year-old on a bicycle and turned onto Villa Theresa Drive… Police say the Jeep was found parked blocks away and Jones was identified as the driver. Jones told police he drifted too far to the left, jerked the steering wheel back to the right, and felt his tires hit the gravel. Jones said he looked up and “saw nothing” and “heard nothing.” The crash was captured on video and Jones was arrested.
Here’s similar news item on azcentral.com.
I’ll mention here, Glendale PD has a remarkable track record of finding suspects and getting convictions against hit and run drivers.
Criminal Case (#criminal)
History: superiorcourt.maricopa.gov/docket/CriminalCourtCases Minutes: www.courtminutes.maricopa.gov (none showing on the public-facing site?)
This is CR-2021001293; (it apparently took a long time to bring the charges)
The court site says the defendant plead guilty to a hit-run with death. A death that he caused (a class 2 felony). No minutes (none!) are available on the public-facing site for this case(why?). After repeated calls to the Court Clerk’s customer service without explanation, I journeyed to the Court’s Southeast Justice Center (somewhere in Mesa) on June 9, 2023 — once cleared through security, there the Clerk’s office has three public first-come-first-serve terminals where the info can be looked up and all the case minutes, an more, are available there. Documents can be printed for $.50/page — seems high, it’s all automated — or images can just be snapped. Case minutes were likewise unavailable for Romo hit-and-run; again, no explanation .
In any event, based on the pre-sentence investigation report prepared by APD, due to circumstances, and lack of priors, etc, recommended supervised probation; the investigation doesn’t mention the subsequent tickets issued a couple of months after the killing, while on pre-trial release. The sentence minute 6/22/2022 (Gates) has 4 years probation with 1 year in jail next year (subsequently deferred again 4/21/2023 due to satisfactory probation. judicial officer: Fish). The report generally paints it like he really didn’t know he hit people, essentially accepting his story he thought he lost control and hit a landscaping rock; to back that up the report states he didn’t appear to try and hide the vehicle. The report doesn’t really describe the situation as what it seems to be: a driver, driving so recklessly through a neighborhood loses control in a turn, crossing to the wrong side of the street and killing and injuring some people.
The prosecutor’s statement tells a somewhat different tale (than probation’s pre-sentence report):
“a neighbor … caught the incident on her home camera which was given to police. Video showed (the adult male victim) yelling at the Jeep before the crash and lots of yelling afterwards. The recording was 95-100 feet away and still audible. It also showed the (adult female victim) as being clearly visible to the driver as she was at chest level on the hood of the Jeep”
This is probably a typical sentence for felony hit-and-run (no jail).
Other court records show the defendant, Collin Alexander Jones, had some other traffic difficulties after the killing; both filed on 4/6/2021: PPD100460006, PPD100460014 involving speeding, driving an unregistered vehicle; may have involved a collision(?speed too fast to avoid collision?). In the case minutes, there is an MVD abstract dated 6/30/2022 showing the felony conviction; so apparently he did still have a valid license on 4/6/2021 on pre-trial release when he got the tickets.
In any event, his driver’s license will be revoked for a mandatory 10 years (I would guess that makes it 6/22/2032); how will he be getting around? Is anyone really checking?
Crash Report
FARS st_case=40251
in terms of statistical minutia: there were 2 people listed in the PB table, both were bicyclist PER_TYP (i would have imagined, as a passenger in a trailer, the little boy would have been “other bicyclist”? the other involved person was the father, listed as possible injury. According to FARS the mother and other child were uninvolved in the crash. There was one other person in the vehicle with the driver.
ADOT incident=3649748
Show and additional “nonmotorist” involved, for a total of 3.