Long Beach Man Pleads Guilty To Hitting Teen, Dragging Her 600 Feet
MINEOLA, N.Y. (CBSNewYork) -- A Long Beach man has pleaded guilty to a Labor Day hit-and-run accident that left a 15-year-old girl seriously injured last year.
German Gutierrez, 50, pleaded guilty to assault, depraved indifference, aggravated driving while intoxicated and leaving the scene of an accident with serious physical injury, Nassau County District Attorney Kathleen Rice announced Friday.
Prosecutors said Gutierrez was driving on East Beech Street in Long Beach without his headlights when he drove through a stop sign and struck Sarah Colletti who was walking her bicycle across the street on Sept. 3, 2012.
Colletti became pinned underneath the Jeep along with her bicycle and Gutierrez kept driving, dragging her under the vehicle for more than 600 feet, prosecutors said.
Police caught up with Gutierrez after he struck a parked vehicle and drove on the sidewalk before coming to a stop in the street and falling out of his vehicle, prosecutors said.
Gutierrez told officers at the scene that he had consumed "like, a thousand drinks" and hadn't technically killed anyone, prosecutors said.
His blood-alcohol content was more than three times the legal limit five hours after the incident, prosecutors said.
"The physical and emotional scars this brave young woman has suffered will be a constant reminder of the horrors she suffered at the hand of this defendant, but [Thursday's] guilty plea ensures that Mr. Gutierrez pays a serious price for his crime," Rice said.
Colletti has permanent scarring after serious road rash injuries to the left side of her body left her knee and elbow joints exposed, prosecutors said.
Gutierrez is expected to be sentenced to eight years in prison.
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