Guilty plea in crash that killed wheelchair rider
SEATTLE -- A Seattle driver accused of crashing into a man riding in a wheelchair has pleaded guilty to vehicular homicide and hit and run.
Pleading guilty as charged Tuesday, Daniel C. Mozzochi was drunk when his car hit 57-year-old Douglas Lefever on Oct. 2 in Seattle's Interbay neighborhood.
Lefever was riding his motorized wheelchair in a marked crosswalk in Seattle's Interbay neighborhood when he was struck by Mozzochi's car. Mozzochi then drove offf as Lefever lay critically injured in the road.
According to Seattle police reports, Mozzochi was driving north on 15th Avenue West at 12:35 a.m. when Lefever tried to cross the arterial at West Garfield Street. Investigators contend Mozzochi failed to stop at a red light and struck Lefever, knocking him out of his wheelchair and into the road.
Mozzochi then reversed, swung his Honda Civic around Lefever and his wheelchair, and drove from the scene, according to charging documents.
"The defendant stopped at the scene, but remained in his car as witnesses rushed to the aid of Mr. Lefever," Senior Deputy Prosecutor Amy Freedheim said in charging documents. "As witnesses looked to the defendant and began pointing to him, he drove around the scene and fled in his car."
As others tended to Lefever, a driver at the scene saw Mozzochi slowly pulling away, a Seattle detective told the court. That driver reported Mozzochi's license plate to police while yelling at Mozzochi to stop his car and return to the crash location.
Following directions given by a witness who pursued the offending driver, police arrested Mozzochi shortly after the crash in Ballard. Lefever, who suffered catastrophic injuries to his spine, died hours later at Harborview Medical Center.
Mozzochi, who was previously convicted of drunken driving, pleaded guilty vehicular homicide and felony hit and run. He faces five to six years in prison when he is sentenced Feb. 10 by King County Superior Court Judge Michael Trickey at the Seattle courthouse.
Seattlepi.com is a media partner of KOMO News.
Pleading guilty as charged Tuesday, Daniel C. Mozzochi was drunk when his car hit 57-year-old Douglas Lefever on Oct. 2 in Seattle's Interbay neighborhood.
Lefever was riding his motorized wheelchair in a marked crosswalk in Seattle's Interbay neighborhood when he was struck by Mozzochi's car. Mozzochi then drove offf as Lefever lay critically injured in the road.
According to Seattle police reports, Mozzochi was driving north on 15th Avenue West at 12:35 a.m. when Lefever tried to cross the arterial at West Garfield Street. Investigators contend Mozzochi failed to stop at a red light and struck Lefever, knocking him out of his wheelchair and into the road.
Mozzochi then reversed, swung his Honda Civic around Lefever and his wheelchair, and drove from the scene, according to charging documents.
"The defendant stopped at the scene, but remained in his car as witnesses rushed to the aid of Mr. Lefever," Senior Deputy Prosecutor Amy Freedheim said in charging documents. "As witnesses looked to the defendant and began pointing to him, he drove around the scene and fled in his car."
As others tended to Lefever, a driver at the scene saw Mozzochi slowly pulling away, a Seattle detective told the court. That driver reported Mozzochi's license plate to police while yelling at Mozzochi to stop his car and return to the crash location.
Following directions given by a witness who pursued the offending driver, police arrested Mozzochi shortly after the crash in Ballard. Lefever, who suffered catastrophic injuries to his spine, died hours later at Harborview Medical Center.
Mozzochi, who was previously convicted of drunken driving, pleaded guilty vehicular homicide and felony hit and run. He faces five to six years in prison when he is sentenced Feb. 10 by King County Superior Court Judge Michael Trickey at the Seattle courthouse.
Seattlepi.com is a media partner of KOMO News.
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