When a person does not stop after a collision, it is a “hit-and-run” accident and can have serious consequences that can vary from fines to prison time. It usually depends on the severity of the accident and if the person has a prior criminal record. Connecticut police said they responded to an accident scene one night after callers reported a 70-year-old woman who was hit by a vehicle while trying to cross the street.

Police said a 45-year-old Connecticut woman allegedly hit the 70-year-old woman with her minivan and did not stop after the automobile accident. Witnesses reported that the force of the impact threw the woman to the opposite side of the street, and she ended up under a white pickup truck. She was transported to a local hospital where she died soon after.

After the woman hit the victim, she drove away and hit another car without stopping as well. Police said they arrested her later at her home, after witnesses followed her, got her license plate number and reported it to authorities. According to reports, the woman was arrested 51 times for many different violations.

Investigators determined that there was another person in her vehicle at the time of the hit-an- run. He didn’t know the woman well, as he met her that day. He was also intoxicated at the time but said she hit something. He alleges that he did not know it was a person.

Whether a hit-and run-driver was aware they struck another vehicle or pedestrian or not, they are still responsible for their negligent actions. If someone is hit by a vehicle that then flees the scene of the accident, he or she may receive compensation in a personal injury or wrongful death claim.

Source:  wfsb.com, “PD: Hit-and-run driver killed 70-year-old woman” Courtney Zieller and Joseph Wenzel IV,, Apr. 21, 2014