# Hit & run kills my co-worker **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [March 25, 2009, 4:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hit-run-kills-my-co-worker/490707 "2009-03-25T04:01:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Valgard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/7feea3/32.png) [@Valgard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Valgard)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2009, 4:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hit-run-kills-my-co-worker/490707/1 "2009-03-25T04:01:48Z")
Office manager has to send the bad news today that one of the guys in my office was killed in a hit & run this weekend. We weren’t buddies, just knew each other from around work, he was a nice guy and I had just spoken to him on Friday. He died Saturday. Don’t know the details for sure but evidently a car blew through a red light, struck his driver’s side door, four people jumped out of the h&r vehicle and ran, leaving Roger there to die. I can’t imagine what his family and partner are feeling. And I can’t imagine how someone can do such a thing; it’s bad enough to be that stupid and reckless when you’re navigating a deadly weapon, which two tons of steel happens to be, but to then just leave an innocent victim there like a piece of garbage? I’d say a lot of bad words but what good will it do? He’s still dead. I hope they can track the guilty party down by the vehicle although I bet money it was “reported stolen” as soon as the driver could get to a phone. Just the other week someone hit a blind pedestrian in a clearly marked & signed crosswalk near my house. They took off running as well. What the hell is wrong with people? RIP Roger. ---
**Author:** ![mhendo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mhendo/32/3159_2.png) [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2009, 4:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hit-run-kills-my-co-worker/490707/2 "2009-03-25T04:11:13Z")
Sorry to hear about your co-worker. According to [this story](http://www.insidebayarea.com/crime/ci_11986309), they seem to have identified the culprit, and he’s admitted to speeding and running the red light. > [@](#): > > A 21-year-old man told police he was speeding to return his aunt’s SUV that he had taken without her knowledge when he ran a stoplight and crashed into a sedan Saturday morning, police said. > > \ > > Police interviewed the man after he was taken to the hospital, and he told them he had taken the car to meet with friends and wanted to get it back to his aunt before she woke up, Orrey said. After the crash, friends drove him to meet his aunt, who called police after being told the SUV had been stolen. > > Orrey said the injured man also told investigators that alcohol was involved, and the case has been handed over to the Alameda County District Attorney’s Office. Here’s hoping they throw the book at him. ---
**Author:** ![Valgard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/7feea3/32.png) [@Valgard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Valgard)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2009, 4:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hit-run-kills-my-co-worker/490707/3 "2009-03-25T04:26:36Z")
Holy smokes. That is indeed my co-worker, thanks for the link. I’m glad that the culprit was identified and glad that his aunt called the police. Him reporting the vehicle as stolen, so sadly predictable. And he may have been drinking too. Wonderful. I hope that they make a big public example of him but I fear he’ll do a few years, a little community service and then be out driving around again too soon. ---
**Author:** ![Commandx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Commandx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Commandx)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2009, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hit-run-kills-my-co-worker/490707/4 "2009-03-25T15:05:24Z")
Unless he gets charged with grand theft auto, a slap on the wrist sentance is all too likely. Hope that excuse for a person rots though… And how many of these hit and runs don’t involve boozed up morons anyway? ---
**Author:** ![Duckster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duckster/32/1244_2.png) [@Duckster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duckster)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2009, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hit-run-kills-my-co-worker/490707/5 "2009-03-25T15:24:49Z")
> [@Commandx](#): > > Unless he gets charged with grand theft auto, a slap on the wrist sentance is all too likely. Why? It was hit and run and an innocent person was killed. So the DA won’t push for negligent homicide by motor vehicle? ---
**Author:** ![scr4](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/59ef9b/32.png) [@scr4](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scr4)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2009, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hit-run-kills-my-co-worker/490707/6 "2009-03-25T15:42:03Z")
> [@Valgard](#): > > And he may have been drinking too. Wonderful. I wonder if it they can prove that. If he wasn’t caught till next morning, I don’t think the blood test would be conclusive. ---
**Author:** ![iamthewalrus\_3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/258eb7/32.png) [@iamthewalrus\_3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iamthewalrus_3)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2009, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hit-run-kills-my-co-worker/490707/7 "2009-03-25T18:11:59Z")
> [@Commandx](#): > > Unless he gets charged with grand theft auto, a slap on the wrist sentance is all too likely. Hope that excuse for a person rots though… And how many of these hit and runs don’t involve boozed up morons anyway? If he’s charged with Grand Theft Auto, that’s a felony. And if a person dies during the commission of a felony, that’s [Felony Murder](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Felony_murder_rule), right? ---
**Author:** ![Soapbox\_Monkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ed655f/32.png) [@Soapbox\_Monkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Soapbox_Monkey)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2009, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hit-run-kills-my-co-worker/490707/8 "2009-03-25T22:00:37Z")
> [@Valgard](#): > > I hope that they make a big public example of him Unless they hang the kid out front of the courthouse, this is wishful thinking. I’m still a wishful thinker, though. ---
**Author:** ![Amp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Amp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amp)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2009, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hit-run-kills-my-co-worker/490707/9 "2009-03-25T22:06:59Z")
Could he be charged with grand theft auto even if his aunt declines to press charges? ---
**Author:** ![Valgard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/7feea3/32.png) [@Valgard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Valgard)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2009, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hit-run-kills-my-co-worker/490707/10 "2009-03-25T23:11:49Z")
I forwarded the article on to a friend of mine who is a criminal defense attorney and asked him what he thought the guy would get (based just on that). His response: "Assuming no priors, he’s looking at manslaughter, hit and run, perjury, etc… I would guess 3 years prison." For once I sincerely hope my friend is wrong. ---
**Author:** ![brazil84](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8491ac/32.png) [@brazil84](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brazil84)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2009, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hit-run-kills-my-co-worker/490707/11 "2009-03-25T23:58:36Z")
I’m really sorry to hear about your co-worker. I was in a red light accident a couple years ago. Nobody was hurt, but now I try to do the following: When you’re approaching an intersection with a green light, you slow down a bit and look both ways anyway. When you are stopped at an intersection and the light turns green, you pause for a second and look both ways anyway. I’m not saying that your co-worker screwed up, just offering a couple tips I learned after my own crash. ---
**Author:** ![Valgard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/7feea3/32.png) [@Valgard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Valgard)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2009, 5:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hit-run-kills-my-co-worker/490707/12 "2009-03-26T05:12:03Z")
I ride a bike a lot, trust me I have learned well to assume that red lights and stop signs and other traffic signals are taken more as " suggestions" than “rules” by approaching traffic. I find I live longer by assuming that everyone at the wheel is intentionally trying to kill me. I also drive a great big truck and I try to look in all 87 directions at once for (kids/bikers/other cars/etc) because I can’t imagine how horrible it would feel to hear a “thud” and know that I’ve just changed a lot of lives for the worse due to a second’s inattentiveness. ---
**Author:** ![Uzi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/91b2a8/32.png) [@Uzi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Uzi)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2009, 6:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hit-run-kills-my-co-worker/490707/13 "2009-03-26T06:59:15Z")
Not a hit and run, but an interesting story none the less. A workstation tech that I supervised at one point got killed a few months ago after being hit by a motorcycle. Note that this occured in the capital of Yemen, Sana’a. The story as I was told it: -The motorcycle was travelling the wrong way down the street. -The motorcycle was carrying 3 people. Regular motorcycle, no sidecar. -The 3 people on the motorcycle were all cops. He was taken by ambulance to a hospital. Because he wasn’t carrying any ID, the hospital refused to take him (hospitals won’t take you if you don’t have any obvious means to pay). He was taken to the next hospital who also refused to take him. The third hospital took him. See the hospital will take you once you are dead because they know the family will pay to claim your body… ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Miskatonic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mr.miskatonic/32/310_2.png) [@Mr.Miskatonic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Miskatonic)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2009, 1:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hit-run-kills-my-co-worker/490707/14 "2009-03-26T13:51:07Z")
> [@Duckster](#): > > Why? It was hit and run and an innocent person was killed. So the DA won’t push for negligent homicide by motor vehicle? That’s a funny one, Duckster! Got any more? ---
**Author:** ![Eats\_Crayons](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/278dde/32.png) [@Eats\_Crayons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eats_Crayons)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2009, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hit-run-kills-my-co-worker/490707/15 "2009-03-26T14:42:21Z")
> [@brazil84](#): > > When you’re approaching an intersection with a green light, you slow down a bit and look both ways anyway. > > When you are stopped at an intersection and the light turns green, you pause for a second and look both ways anyway. I had a co-worker make a wise crack about te fact taht I look _both_ ways when crossing a _one way_ street. Then on the way back to the office, we saw someone make a u-turn on the one way street to get back to the intersection. That’s why I look both ways. In case some other idiot forgets it’s a one way street. Sorry to hear about your co-worker **Valgard**. If the guys were travelling at a high rate of speed, no matter how careful he may have been there probably wasn’t much of a chance to avoid being hit. ---
**Author:** ![Rand\_Rover](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/db5fbb/32.png) [@Rand\_Rover](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rand_Rover)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2009, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hit-run-kills-my-co-worker/490707/16 "2009-03-26T19:35:16Z")
> [@iamthewalrus\_3](#): > > If he’s charged with Grand Theft Auto, that’s a felony. And if a person dies during the commission of a felony, that’s [Felony Murder](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Felony_murder_rule), right? I think most jurisdictions have limited the FMR to “inherently dangerous” felonies (eg, burglary, armed robbery, rape, and arson). ---
**Author:** ![Carol\_the\_Impaler](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Carol\_the\_Impaler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Carol_the_Impaler)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2009, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hit-run-kills-my-co-worker/490707/17 "2009-03-26T20:03:06Z")
We have had the sad case [here](http://www.omaha.com/index.php?u_page=2798&u_sid=10592451) about a hit and run where the driver hit a 9-year-old who ran into the street after a basketball, and then the driver panicked and backed up to flee and ran over the kid _again_. Same deal. Driving a relative’s car that he wasn’t supposed to have. ---
**Author:** ![Moirai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/96bed5/32.png) [@Moirai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moirai)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2009, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hit-run-kills-my-co-worker/490707/18 "2009-03-26T20:27:29Z")
> [@Mr.Miskatonic](#): > > That’s a funny one, Duckster! Got any more? What’s funny about that post? He was responding to a poster who assumed a “slap on the wrist” penalty, and he was hoping for more. ---
**Author:** ![mswas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e99b99/32.png) [@mswas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mswas)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2009, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hit-run-kills-my-co-worker/490707/19 "2009-03-26T20:48:57Z")
I fail to see what punishing this guy for the rest of his life will do to bring the deceased back to life and solve anything. ---
**Author:** ![Winsling](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Winsling](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Winsling)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2009, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hit-run-kills-my-co-worker/490707/20 "2009-03-26T20:58:17Z")
> [@mswas](#): > > I fail to see what punishing this guy for the rest of his life will do to bring the deceased back to life and solve anything. Would you care to propose a course of action that will bring the deceased back? [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hit-run-kills-my-co-worker/490707.md?page=2)