quote:
Police obtained an arrest warrant Wednesday for Pat Suter, 87, in a hit-and-run case involving a local attorney who was struck March 16 along Ocean Drive while riding a bicycle.
Suter turned herself in at the Nueces County Jail under supervision of her attorney, Mark Di Carlo, about 6:30 p.m. She was charged with causing an accident involving personal injury, a third-degree felony. Her bail was set at $50,000, officials said. Jail officials said Suter would remain in jail late Wednesday.
Police Cmdr. John Houston said investigators determined that Suter was driving a previously recovered Ford Focus and struck attorney Richard Leshin.
“The investigation revealed that she not only owns the vehicle but was driving the vehicle at the time,” Houston said.
Di Carlo said Suter was unaware that she hit a person.
“She thought she hit a trash can,” Di Carlo said. “She did not believe she hit a person or she would have stopped.”
Leshin, who suffered two fractured vertebra and a broken ankle, disagreed with Suter’s claims.
“Police said they could easily tell a body hit the car. If she’d looked out the window ... It doesn’t make sense; it doesn’t jive,” he said.
Di Carlo said Suter is being treated for problems to her right eye.
“The bicyclist would have been in her right field of vision,” Di Carlo said. “It was dark that morning, she’s elderly and has vision problems.”
www.caller.com/news/2013/mar/27/arrest-warrant-issued-hit-and-run-involving-lawyer/?partner=RSS
quote:
CORPUS CHRISTI (Kiii News) - After spending 14 hours in the county lockup, environmental activist Pat Suter has posted bail and is now out of jail.
The 87-year old woman is charged with running over Attorney Richard Leshin as he rode his bicycle down Ocean Drive.
Before Suter was allowed to get out of jail, Judge Nanette Hasette wrote out by hand one of the conditions of bail: "Do not operate a motor vehicle under any circumstances."
In Suter's arrest affidavit, a back and forth dialogue between Suter and a police officer stands out. The conversation took place on March 19, after police tracked down the silver 2012 Ford Focus used in the hit and run to Suter's house.
Suter was signing off on the consent to search her car when police said she stated "poor thing." The officer asked what she meant, and she said, "My poor car."
The officer said she should be saying, "Poor Mr. Leshin."
Suter is said to have replied, "He should have had lights on his bicycle." The officer told her he did have a light. Then, Suter said she should have worn more reflective clothing.
The officer then said that he told her she should stop talking.
Local Defense Attorney Eric Perkins used to work in the District Attorney's Office, and said that an arrest affidavit does not always tell the whole story.
"Until the facts come forward, a single document and affidavit like that needs to be taken as what it is -- a single document which doesn't contain what we call all depositive facts," Perkins said.
Now, Suter's son and attorney have said that she did not know she had hit Leshin. They said that she thought she had run over a trash can, but police and Richard Leshin find that hard to believe. They said he was not only struck, but was also knocked on top of the hood of the car Suter was driving.
Leshin said neighbors who showed up at the scene told him that they heard his screams from quite a ways off, and he knows Suter had to hear them as well.
Hal Suter said his mother has been suffering from some kind of eye problems, but never mentioned anything about not being able to hear.
www.kiiitv.com/story/21822645/eyebrow-raising-remarks-in-pat-suters-arrest-affidavit
She should never, ever drive again.