Prosecutors to target hit-and-run incidents

August 30, 2012 10:03 AM

PHILIPSBURG--The Prosecutor's Office will be making more effort to take perpetrators of hit-and-run traffic accidents to court, it was announced Wednesday.

It is punishable by law when drivers leave the scene of a traffic accident without stopping to settle damages or taking care of victims.
 
The first two hit-and-run suspects faced charges Wednesday at the Court of First Instance. Both men may have to pay fines by court order.
 
Prosecutor Dounia Benammar said hit-and-run is a criminal offence which, from now on, will be more intensely prosecuted.
 
She said persons making slight dents while, for instance, parking their car would not have to fear the wrath of justice, but more severe cases would be taken before a judge. She said the suspects would be sentenced according to guidelines provided by the Attorney-General.
 
J.D.A. (26) is suspected in a hit-and-run case on Bishop Hill Road on July 29. He allegedly caused a traffic accident while trying to overtake a car, while another vehicle was approaching from the opposite direction. The car that was being overtaken was forced off the road, and sustained considerable damage.
 
J.D.A. did not stop his vehicle, but his identity could be established via the rental car's licence plate. He didn't have a driver's licence and so was driving without insurance.
 
The Prosecutor requested a NAf.-1,500 fine, which is to be replaced by 60 days in jail, in case of non-payment. Attorney-at-law Geert Hatzmann said this sentence would be too high. He asked for his client's acquittal, because his client had not had the opportunity to speak to a lawyer after he had been called to the police station.
 
Musician A.J.L. (63) admitted he had been involved in a case of hit and run on L.B. Scot Road on July 15, when he had failed to give right of way. He told Judge Tamara Tijhuis he had panicked after causing the accident in the vicinity of St. John's, but had settled the US-$1,600 damages within a week.
 
In this case, the Prosecutor asked for a NAf.-1,000 fine (40 days). The Judge will give her decisions on September 19.

(The Daily Herald)