Hit & Run Question

[Runescape1]

What is the name of your state? New Hampshire

Hi I was recently driving down my neighborhood and dropped something on my lap which led to me accidently swerving and clipping my neighbor's mailbox. I am only 19 with little to no money and have never been in an accident, without thinking it through I continued to drive to my house and hoped no one saw me. Shortly after, a police officer showed up and asked if it was me. I admitted it and he said he will be summoning me for court. But the first thing the next morning, I bought the neighbors a brand new mailbox and talked to them for a long time. It was clear they were forgiving and I am positive they wont press charges. My question is if the victims dont press charges, is there still any chance of the police/prosecutors pressing charges against me?

I am currently in college surviving on financial aind if I get a charge, that aid will likely be revoked which is why this is concerning me so much.

 

[Just Blue]

What is the name of your state? New Hampshire

Hi I was recently driving down my neighborhood and dropped something on my lap which led to me accidently swerving and clipping my neighbor's mailbox. I am only 19 with little to no money and have never been in an accident, without thinking it through I continued to drive to my house and hoped no one saw me. Shortly after, a police officer showed up and asked if it was me. I admitted it and he said he will be summoning me for court. But the first thing the next morning, I bought the neighbors a brand new mailbox and talked to them for a long time. It was clear they were forgiving and I am positive they wont press charges. My question is if the victims dont press charges, is there still any chance of the police/prosecutors pressing charges against me?

I am currently in college surviving on financial aind if I get a charge, that aid will likely be revoked which is why this is concerning me so much.

Likely the police will have checked your phone records and will know if you were texting at the time of this accident. The bottom line is you hit and ran after this accident. That is a BIG problem and will cause both legal and financial issues.

 

[PayrollHRGuy]

Likely the police will have checked your phone records and will know if you were texting at the time of this accident.

That assumes facts not in evidence no matter how likely it is.

@Runescape1 , The state could still charge you with leaving the scene of an accident with property damage and other charges. Your neighbors will have no say on that. While it will look good to the judge that you paid for the damage it isn't a defense to the charges.

 

[Just Blue]

That assumes facts not in evidence no matter how likely it is.

@Runescape1 , The state could still charge you with leaving the scene of an accident with property damage and other charges. Your neighbors will have no say on that. While it will look good to the judge that you paid for the damage it isn't a defense to the charges.

Hence the term "likely" ...

 

[Mass_Shyster]

Hence the term "likely" ...

I would categorize it as highly unlikely.

That's an awful lot of work for a fine-only crime. Unless the suspect gave up his or her cell number to the officer that responded, the officer would have to ask every cell phone carrier of they had an account for the suspect, and if that phone had sent a text message at the same time as the accident. Each carrier has different protocols, and it may require a search warrant to even find out of the suspect has an account, and a second search warrant to find out if an SMS message was sent at the time of the accident.

This would also require knowing the exact time of the accident. If the kid was typing out the message at the time of the accident, it wouldn't show up on the carrier's records until he or she pressed send.

I doubt the police have that much time to waste on a hit-and-run where the kid has already admitted guilt.

 

[PayrollHRGuy]

Hence the term "likely" ...

You just had the "likely" in the wrong place in the sentence. You have it modifying the "...the police will have checked your phone records..."

I think it is likely the object the OP dropped was a phone. I think it is unlikely that the police will and certainly haven't already checked his phone records.

 

[Just Blue]

I stand corrected. Sorry OP.

 

[paddywakk]

What is the name of your state? New Hampshire

Hi I was recently driving down my neighborhood and dropped something on my lap which led to me accidently swerving and clipping my neighbor's mailbox. I am only 19 with little to no money and have never been in an accident, without thinking it through I continued to drive to my house and hoped no one saw me. Shortly after, a police officer showed up and asked if it was me. I admitted it and he said he will be summoning me for court. But the first thing the next morning, I bought the neighbors a brand new mailbox and talked to them for a long time. It was clear they were forgiving and I am positive they wont press charges. My question is if the victims dont press charges, is there still any chance of the police/prosecutors pressing charges against me?

I am currently in college surviving on financial aind if I get a charge, that aid will likely be revoked which is why this is concerning me so much.

Why do you think your aid will be revoked if you are charged with hit and run? How would the school or US Dept of Education would find out?

 

[Zigner]

Why do you think your aid will be revoked if you are charged with hit and run? How would the school or US Dept of Education would find out?

They've got a fancy new technology out there called computers. It makes information much easier to obtain.

 

[quincy]

Why do you think your aid will be revoked if you are charged with hit and run? How would the school or US Dept of Education would find out?

A student seeking federal aid must submit a FAFSA application every year. There is a self-reporting of crimes.

What is described here does not sound like a disqualifying incident, however. If drugs are involved or the cause of an accident, that could make a student ineligible for aid (for a period of time, at any rate).