You're driving drunk. You hit someone. They're in bad shape. You can stay and fess up. Or you can speed off.
Under Pennsylvania law, there's an incentive to flee, many police officers, prosecutors and politicians say.
Drunken drivers who kill face a mandatory minimum prison sentence of three years. Those who drive away and get caught after alcohol is out of their system normally can only be charged with fleeing the scene - a crime that carries a one-year minimum jail term.
The spotlight has been placed on the loophole locally following several recent cases in which drivers - believed to have been drinking alcohol - fled the scene of crashes in Wilkes-Barre, leaving the victims on the road to die.
"Our opinion is there still remains an incentive to flee if you had been drinking prior to the accident," Luzerne County First Assistant District Attorney Sam Sanguedolce said recently. "In order to correct that problem we feel the mandatory minimum for the hit-and-run should not only be equal, but higher, so the incentive would be to stay."
The Legislature would have to make such a change.
Last year, state Rep. Dave Reed, R-62, Indiana County, proposed a bill to increase the mandatory minimum penalty for hit-and-run drivers to three years. The bill passed the House 194-1, but faced resistance among state senators, Mr. Reed said last week. Some senators indicated they dislike mandatory minimum sentences that overcrowd prisons and were more in favor of giving judges discretion on a case-by-case basis, Mr. Reed said.
The two chambers reached a compromise. The hit-and-run charge - officially known as accidents involving death or personal injury - had been a third-degree felony that carried a maximum seven years in prison. It became a second-degree felony punishable by up to 10 years in prison. However, the mandatory minimum prison term remained one year.
Mr. Reed said he consulted with victims' families, who wanted some change, rather than no change.
"At the time, we had a choice to make. We had the ability to make changes. In their mind, some change was better than nothing and we could always come back and fight for more changes," Mr. Reed said. "There's still a loophole that allows some advantage to fleeing. But, with the sentencing enhancement, it goes a long way to putting those folks behind bars for a longer time."
Mr. Sanguedolce said that for offenders with little or no criminal history, the law change likely would have little effect since judges sentence under guidelines formulated by offense gravity score and criminal history.
"The maximum sentence may be so far away from the standard range that the judge would not reach it," he said.
One of the state's loudest proponents for tougher hit-and-run laws is state Sen. Mike Stack, D-5, Philadelphia, who has been proposing legislation since 2005 that would raise mandatory minimums for hit-and-runs from one to five years.
Last week, an aide to Mr. Stack said he plans to reintroduce a bill that would provide a mandatory minimum of one year in prison for drivers who are convicted of knowingly leaving the scene of a crash that results in the serious bodily injury to another motorist, passenger and/or pedestrian. The proposal would increase the mandatory minimum to three years if a victim dies, the staffer said.
Diane Velikis, 53, of Pringle, whose sister was killed in a hit-and-run, said last year's law tweak amounted to "crumbs" to the grieving families.
"A loophole is a loophole. Let's plug it. Let's fix it. Let's get it better," Ms. Velikis demanded. "There's still an umbrella of protection for the drunk driver."
Her sister, Joan Kukosky, 45, was struck May 7, 2006, on South Pennsylvania Avenue near Dana Street in Wilkes-Barre while walking to a friend's house. The single mother of three was found bloodied in the road by a passer-by and died of brain trauma days later.
The driver, Daniel Ashton, then 49, of Wilkes-Barre, later turned himself in to police after investigators announced they were looking for a Jeep Wrangler with damage and advised local body shops to report anyone seeking to repair the vehicle. Mr. Ashton was sentenced to the minimum: one year in jail.
"What's a year? I could tell you what a year is. There is just no justice," Ms. Velikis said. "Prior to him being sentenced, when we were all standing before the judge, he had tears streaming down his face. He said, 'I'm sorry. I'm sorry.' He really displayed that he was contrite. However, I thought it was for his own benefit. I looked at him and said, 'Mr. Ashton, exactly when were you sorry? When you were banging the dents out of your car? When there was an investigation and you felt police were closing in on you?' "
Three times since June, a driver has fatally hit someone in Wilkes-Barre and fled.
- On June 15, Corey Ryan, 20, of Wilkes-Barre, was fatally struck by a vehicle as he crossed South River Street in his wheelchair. Danielle Castrignano, 20, of Kingston, turned herself in the next day and was charged with accidents involving death or personal injury. She is awaiting trial.
- On July 24, Rebecca McCallick, 19, died after being hit by a truck that drove away on Hazle Avenue. Police charged Daniel Loughnane, 40, of Hanover Twp., with accidents involving death or personal injury. He is awaiting trial.
- On Dec. 21, Kevin Miller, 5, a kindergarten student from Dallas, was fatally struck at North and North Franklin streets while leaving a Christmas party with his father, mother and two brothers. Authorities have identified Thomas W. Letteer, 22, of Plains Twp., as a "person of interest," but no charges have been filed.
In each of the recent cases, police and prosecutors say they have evidence the individuals were drinking alcohol prior to the incident.
Ms. Velikis said she can't understand how drivers can flee after hitting someone, leaving them there to die. She hopes one day the punishment fits the crime.
"I can't wrap my head around it, how they could keep going. I understand they didn't mean to do it. But what they do mean to do is run so they don't get caught. They should go to prison," Ms. Velikis said.
Contact the writer: bkalinowski@citizensvoice.com, @cvbobkal on Twitter