Troubled Mets relief pitcher Ambiorix Burgos struck and killed two women in a hit-and-run accident in the Dominican Republic, cops told a local paper. Burgos, 24, who missed the entire season with an elbow injury, was driving a 2009 Hummer that hit the two women near his north coast hometown of Nagua. The hit-and-run was not his first brush with the law. Just last month, Burgos was arrested on charges of manhandling his girlfriend in a Queens hotel. The 6-foot-3, 244-pound hurler allegedly punched, bit and slapped 26-year-old Maria Lopez in a Holiday Inn room on Sept. 8, cops said.
Hit-and-run is the crime of colliding with a person, their personal property (including their motor vehicle), or a fixture, and failing to stop and identify oneself afterwards.
Penalties for hit and run charges vary, depending on the extent of the damage and the driver's criminal driving history.
Misdemeanors are the most common hit and run charges and result from minimal property damage with no physical injuries.Typical hit and run misdemeanor penalties may carry 6 months in county jail, fines, and victim restitution.
Felonies result when the hit and run incident causes serious bodily injury or death.Hit and Run felony penalties may include several years in prison, thousands of dollars in fines, DMV points, and license suspension.
In 2003, after falling for years, the number of hit-and-run accidents had risen dramatically in California -- and a greater percentage of drivers flee the scenes of fatal crashes here than in any other state in the nation, analysis of traffic accident data shows. The problem leapt to prominence with such tragedies as the hit-and-run deaths of two young girls, killed on San Francisco's 19th Avenue on Memorial Day of that year.
The number of fatal hit-and- run traffic deaths statewide jumped by 19 percent from 1999 to 2001, federal statistics show. Nearly 300 people are killed annually in hit-and-run accidents in the state. Hit-and-runs accounted for 7.8 percent of the state's fatal crashes in 2001.
