Hit-And-Run Driver Who Fled Had Clean Criminal Record
DENVER (CBS4) - Police in Denver haven't given a clear indication so far what the motive might have been for a driver with a clean criminal record to flee after striking a motorcycle on Colfax Avenue Sunday night.
Andrew Middleton, 36, turned himself in to the traffic division on Monday afternoon. Police say his vehicle struck and dragged a motorcycle with two riders on it just before 10 p.m. and then left heading east on Colfax. It happened on the bridge over Interstate 25.
Both riders had to be taken to the hospital, and one remained there on Monday but is expected to survive.
Police say they believe the suspect might have been distracted and impatient after exiting off I-25.
"He was driving his car coming on the ramp at a pretty good rate of speed, realized the light was possibly red, swerved out from behind the cars that were in front of him and the motorcycle was there," said Denver police spokesman Sonny Jackson.
Investigators chose not to issue a Medina Alert, though they may have had enough information to do so. The crime was captured by several survellance cameras, and officers told auto repair shops to look out for a red 2003 Pontiac Grand Prix that Middleton allegedly was driving.
Police say they were close to arresting Middleton before he turned himself in.
"Any time you leave the scene you enhance your charges. You turn what might have been a misdemeanor into a felony," Jackson said.
Middleton tentatively faces felony charges of vehicular assault and leaving the scene of an accident.