Driver gets 5-year sentence in hit-and-run accident that killed AC man in motorized wheelchair

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS   First Posted: August 03, 2013 - 1:22 pm Last Updated: August 03, 2013 - 1:26 pm

MAYS LANDING, New Jersey — A driver who struck and killed a man in a motorized wheelchair in Atlantic City last summer has been sentenced to five years in prison.

Leo Strazzeri of Galloway Township had pleaded guilty last month to a charge of leaving the scene of a fatal accident. Strazzeri had previously denied he was driving his car when it was involved in the hit-and-run accident that killed 45-year-old Daniel Tavarez in July 2012.

Atlantic County prosecutors say Strazzeri drove off after hitting Tavarez, who was on his way to buy milk when he was hit while in the crosswalk at Route 30 and Pennsylvania Avenue. Tavarez was pronounced dead at the scene a short time later.

Police later found Strazzeri's vehicle unoccupied in Atlantic City.