Hi Mr. Glew,
Right now I'm on probation. Last month I was leaving an ATM and I backed my truck into a painted pole in the bank's parking lot. I didn't hit it hard so I just left. Later I noticed a little bit of paint on my bumper but nothing major. Yesterday the police came to my house and questioned me about what happened and said they had video of it. Can they charge me with hit and run if I didn't hit a car and will it be a violation of my probation?
]
Unfortunately, the answers to your questions are yes and yes.
Vehicle
Code section 20002(a) is the controlling statute. A charge of hit and
run will be filed as a felony if the collision causes injury and as a
misdemeanor if there is only property damage. Based upon what you have
told me, it looks like you're facing a possible misdemeanor charge of
violating Vehicle Code section 20002(a), and to be convicted, a
prosecutor need only show that you left the scene of an accident, prior
to leaving, you did not identify yourself to the other party/parties
involved, and another's property was damaged as a result of the
collision.
If you are convicted, you are facing up to six months in
jail, three years informal probation, fines of up to $1000 plus court
costs, and restitution to the party that sustained the property
damage. Based on what you have told me, there was, technically,
damage to the pole, as evidenced by the paint transfer to your bumper.
However slight, the damage the pole sustained is sufficient for you to
be charged with, and potentially convicted of, hit and run. If the
District Attorney does decide to file charges against you, this will
most assuredly constitute a violation of your probation, as I can almost
guarantee that one of the terms of your probation is to violate no
law.
Are you on probation for a felony or a misdemeanor? If you are on
formal probation for a felony, this violation can have serious
consequences, including jail exposure. It's always better to take the
five minutes and deal with a problem now, then to ignore it and face
much harsher consequences later.
Send all questions to gl********@ya***.com. And remember, Better Call Glew!
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Award-winning investigative journalist Nick Schou is Editor of OC Weekly. He is the author of Kill the Messenger: How the CIA’s Crack Cocaine Controversy Destroyed Journalist Gary Webb (Nation Books 2006), which provided the basis for the 2014 Focus Features release starring Jeremy Renner and the L.A. Times-bestseller Orange Sunshine: The Brotherhood of Eternal Love’s Quest to bring Peace, Love and Acid to the World, (Thomas Dunne 2009). He is also the author of The Weed Runners (2013) and Spooked: How the CIA Manipulates the Media and Hoodwinks Hollywood (2016).