An 85-year-old man was arrested after an incident in Denver earlier this month. The investigating officers suspect that the man fatally struck a pedestrian with his vehicle, then fled the scene. The Colorado man now faces serious charges stemming from the accident.

On Jan. 9 at approximately 9 a.m., a 63-year-old woman was attempting to cross the street because she was trying to get to work. As she was crossing the road, according to some witnesses, a white car hit her. The car is said to have struck her and drove over her. Its driver purportedly drove away from the crash scene without stopping.

One of the witnesses gave the officers the possible license plate number of the car, which led police to a white 1985 Chevrolet Impala. After performing preliminary tests on the vehicle, the officers hypothesized that the vehicle could have been involved in the accident. Once they formed this theory, the officers arrested the man because they thought that he was the most likely person to have been driving that day.

There are several factors involved in this case that could make it difficult for the prosecution to prove the man’s guilt in court beyond a reasonable doubt. First, sufficient forensic tests will need to be performed on the vehicle in order to determine whether it truly is the car that was involved in the accident. Second, if the car is determined to have been involved, then the investigators are going to have to find enough evidence placing the man at the wheel of the vehicle at the time of the accident. If neither of these points are properly addressed, it is likely that the serious charges against the Colorado man could be reduced or potentially even dropped entirely due to lack of sufficient evidence.

Source: CBS Denver, Elderly Driver Arrested In Hit & Run Case, No author, Jan. 27, 2014

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