The case of Trevor Clarke, an Ottawa Canada driver who was involved in a serious 2012 collision with a bicyclist while drunk, and then fled the scene raised quite a stir. According to news reports, the driver was convicted (by a judge, meaning this was for unstated reasons not a jury trial) in 2015 of “impaired driving causing bodily harm”, but was found not guilty of leaving the scene because the judge said. “I am left in a reasonable doubt about whether Mr. Clarke knew or was wilfully blind to having collided with a person, precisely because he was so drunk. He cannot, therefore, be convicted of this offence”. Continue reading “Knowingly”
Tag: hit-and-run
San Tan Valley passenger killed in fatal hit and run
Collision occurred near the east entrance of Walmart on Hunt Highway, San Tan Valley (San Tan Valley is in the far south-east Phoenix metro area) Friday evening May 22, 2015. The fatality victim was a passenger in a van that was rear-ended while stopped.
police say: the suspect(s) were impaired, hit-and-ran, hid evidence, lied to police…
Continue reading “San Tan Valley passenger killed in fatal hit and run”
Celebrity DUIs and other car criminals
There are tens of thousands of DUI arrests per year in AZ (39,746 in 2013 to be more precise). And that’s not counting the many of the over ten thousand hit-and-run drivers reported each year in AZ (11,402 in 2010 to be more precise), all of whom are criminals, thousands of them serious felons, few of whom are ever caught or charged. (hit-and-run from a collision with any injury is a felony, if the injury is serious or fatal the felony is likewise serious). Continue reading “Celebrity DUIs and other car criminals”
Police: DUI suspect left Mesa wreck with victim on hood
oh my. Alledged drinking / Percoset / aggravated DUI / child abuse, fleeing the scene, resisting…
That was the scene in Mesa on Tuesday 4/7/2015 afternoon.
Should this woman be driving? — I mean should she have a drivers license? Continue reading “Police: DUI suspect left Mesa wreck with victim on hood”
Man Pleads Guilty in Street Racing Fatality
See man-killed-while-mowing-the-grass for background on the March 26, 2014 incident.
Correction (earlier rant removed): The hit and run involved the other alleged racing driver (Chavez), Gonzalez did not hit and run… Continue reading “Man Pleads Guilty in Street Racing Fatality”
Light pole killed
Oops, more driving on the sidewalk. This happened sometime before Sunday morning, 3/1/2015 when I passed by. It seems like it was just a few days ago that someone drove up on the sidewalk and killed a bus stop; or just a few weeks ago that someone drove up on the sidewalk and killed a wall. What leads to this sort of behavior — I suspect it has something to do with dangerous drivers. Like I said before, it’s all fun-and-games until someone drives up on the sidewalk and kills a jogger.
Was this a hit and run? I always wonder.
Bicyclist fatality in Marana Collision
I found it only because it appears in asdm data for 2014. I find nothing googling. Given the paucity of data this appears to must have be a missing hit-and-run mis-coding?? Continue reading “Bicyclist fatality in Marana Collision”
Yuma bicyclist killed in crosswalk collision
I had missed this one, and only found it when reconciling asdm data and searching on Yuma and Magnolia… There was both a police press release (laced with the a-word! Most police know better than that?) as well as a Yuma Sun article.
The cyclist was riding Eastbound on the North sidewalk (i.e. “counter-flow”) of 8th St; the driver was southbound on Magnolia — at the signalized intersection — and made a right hand turn (who had a red light? Is this another right turn on red error? (no, according to the investigation, see below); colliding with the bicyclist in the crosswalk. Continue reading “Yuma bicyclist killed in crosswalk collision”
Tucson hit-and-run driver kills cyclist; woman arrested
[Update 4/8/2016: the update is there is absolutely no update on the suspect; it’s been over a year and half. Besides the hit and run, FARS has her at .12 BAC]
9/25/2014 12:23am. Hit run. Driver arrested, suspect intoxication. Suspect Nichole Jacinto. Victim 58 y.o. James Frankiewicz. Another news reports says was struck from behind in bike lane. The area appears to have a striped shoulder; it even goes on to be to the right of a RTO lane at Grant.
Location: southbound on Oracle Rd near Jacinto St. (yes, that is a coincidence; the suspect’s name is also Jacinto).
The most-detailed reporting is at bicycletucson.com
Continue reading “Tucson hit-and-run driver kills cyclist; woman arrested”
Fatal Tempe Ped hit-and-run; Driver arrested
Friday 9/12/2014 ~ 9pm near McClintock and Apache, Tempe.
Victim was crossing mid-block; Jon Alguire. 29 y.o. suspect Justin Michael Gordecki booked on susp of hit-run, DUI and “False reporting to police” (hmmm?).
Criminal case CR2014144645; so far headed to trial 7/8/2015. It seems plain he is not going to be charged with the victim’s death (mid-block crossing), just a “simple” hit-and-run, along with probably a dui. Not sure what the holdup could be.
There was an additional unrelated ped-MV crash the same night in Tempe at Priest and University with “life-threatening” injury.
MCSO: Man arrested in fatal East Valley hit-and-run
According to the azfamily/3 video report (sigh, that link is dead; the newpaper story is below) witnesses saw a company pickup vehicle being driven erratically along Apache Trail near 80th St in Mesa, swerving across 3 lanes of traffic, killing a bicyclist riding at the side of the road. Witnesses provided a license plate number for the fleeing vehicle, and police have arrested Derek Tinsley. Continue reading “MCSO: Man arrested in fatal East Valley hit-and-run”
3 year old killed in Mesa parking lot by hit-and-run driver
[Updated 7/8: victim is 3 year old Jaqueline Monroe-Mendoza; police are processing two potential suspect vehicles, a white Chevrolet Suburban and a large white pickup, and have a “person of interest” and so far no arrests have been made. This story makes plain the collision occurred in the apratment’s parking lot azcentral.com]
Sunday July 6, 2014. 2pm. Near Alma School Road and Rio Salado Parkway in Mesa “struck by a large vehicle traveling through the parking lot”. Continue reading “3 year old killed in Mesa parking lot by hit-and-run driver”
Driver Convicted: Another ped gets whacked on Phoenix SIDEWALK
[Jan 2016: case finally resolved, defendant/driver convicted and sentenced, see below.] Woman walking on the sidewalk in broad daylight killed by a hit-and-runner, Sunday March 3, 2013. I say ‘another’ because it was only about a week ago another unforunate soul was hit just standin-on-the-corner; fortunately she wasn’t killed. Seriously, how often does this happen? Continue reading “Driver Convicted: Another ped gets whacked on Phoenix SIDEWALK”
Man killed while mowing the grass
[ Update: 3/6/2015. One of the drivers has plead guilty to manslaughter and agg assault in a deal ]
Killed while mowing the grass? Seriously, how often does this stuff happen? 52nd and Earll in Phoenix is a residential neighborhood:
Jose Angel Gonzales, 17, and Esteban Chavez Jr., 16, were reportedly racing down a residential street near Earll Drive and 52nd Street (Phoenix) on March 26, when Gonzalez blew through a stop sign and collided with a Toyota pickup. The pickup crashed through a cinder block wall and hit Grijalva, 61, who was mowing a lawn. — azcental.com
Octavio Grijalva Herrera later died of his injuries. The teens have since been indicted on eight charges including manslaughter, endangerment; Chavez was also charged with leaving the scene.
Automobiles are frequently driven negligently and go careening all over the place; like the Maricopa county deputy who was speeding 81mph along a Glendale street recently… fortunately only 1 person was killed in that incident; as can be easily seen from the video it’s only a matter of coincidence and luck that more weren’t killed by the out-of-control vehicles.
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The Arizona Republic had a nice, tear-jerking story reflecting on the victim. Phoenix landscaper killed by crash remembered, who was a veritable caricature of a hard-working immigrant (permanent legal resident; in case anyone was wondering). The story, as if on cue said “On this particular day, Hererra was in the wrong place at the wrong time.”, which is undoubtedly true.
Unlicensed pickup driver’s bad left kills motorscooter rider; hit and run
Yikes. The unlicensed (permit) 15 y.o. pickup driver made a bad left (“left cross”); killing a motor scooter rider. March 12, 2014. The driver fled the scene.
Some reports referred to the victim’s vehicle as a scooter, and another a motorized scooter… from the pics it was apparently what is officially called a “Motor driven cycle”; which is like a motorcycle but with a limit on engine power; i.e. more power than a moped and less than a “full” motorcycle.
Mesa police plan to recommend hit-and-run charges against a 15-year-old boy who caused a fatal accident on Wednesday afternoon when he made left turn in front of a scooter, according to a police spokesman.
Police did not identify the boy because he is a juvenile, but the victim was identified as Mason Merrill, 22, who was aided by a detective who happened upon the collision on University Drive just east of Alma School Road. Continue reading “Unlicensed pickup driver’s bad left kills motorscooter rider; hit and run”