Man Gets 5 Years for Wheelchair Hit-&-Run

A driver who struck and killed a man in a motorized wheelchair in Atlantic City last summer has pleaded guilty to a charge of leaving the scene of a fatal accident.

A man will spend the next five years in prison for striking and killing a man in a motorized wheelchair before driving off last summer.

Leo Strazzeri,42, of Galloway Township, N.J. faced up to 10 years in prison after he pleaded guilty in June in the hit-and-run death of Daniel Tavarez on July 9, 2012.

Atlantic County prosecutors say Strazzeri drove off after hitting Tavarez, who was using his motorized wheelchair to go to the store to buy milk when he was hit while in the crosswalk at Route 30 and Pennsylvania Avenue in Atlantic City. Tavarez was pronounced dead at the scene a short time later.

Police later found Strazzeri's vehicle unoccupied in Atlantic City. Strazzeri originally claimed he wasn’t driving at the time of the deadly crash. He later pleaded guilty to a second-degree count of leaving the scene of a deadly crash.

After the crash, the victim's sister, Marjorie Tavarez told WMGM-TV that "people have no respect for people in wheelchairs." She remembered her brother as “a very good person.”

“He would help anybody. This was a very unfair thing to happen. He didn't deserve it."

No word on when Strazzeri will be eligible for parole. He also must pay restitution, according to prosecutors.

Copyright AP - Associated Press
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