GOP Lawmaker Charged in Hit and Run

[RandySF]

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — A Republican legislator who represents part of central Virginia in the House of Delegates has been charged after state police say he struck and injured a pedestrian while driving an SUV and left the scene.

A Chevrolet Tahoe driven by Del. Matt Fariss was traveling through Campbell County on Thursday when it crossed the center line, continued off the road and struck a pedestrian, a Virginia State Police spokeswoman said Tuesday.

“The Tahoe then left the scene. The adult female pedestrian suffered minor injuries,” VSP spokeswoman Corinne Geller said in an emailed statement.

Fariss, 54, was identified as the driver after “further investigation,” and he turned himself in and met a trooper at a magistrate’s office Friday, Geller said.

Fariss has been charged with one count of malicious wounding and one count of being involved in a hit-and-run, both felonies, according to Geller and online court records. He was also charged with reckless driving, a misdemeanor.




https://apnews.com/article/matt-fariss-virginia-lawmaker-charged-hit-run-d465cac031f39294126feb978e9a996c

[MagickMuffin]

1. Did Matt Fariss insist he hit a deer wearing glasses?

Like the AG who killed a pedestrian and claimed it was a deer.

[Diamond_Dog]

2. I thought of the same exact thing

[TexasTowelie]

4. Second hit and run. nt

[TexasTowelie]

3. Yes, he is a Republican.

This is also his second hit-and-run accident. I hope that they suspended his license immediately. His driving record indicates that he is a clear and present danger.

Fariss was previously convicted of a 2016 hit-and-run, when he pleaded guilty to the misdemeanor after causing hundreds of dollars of damage to a 750-foot stretch on Red House Road in Rustburg.

In 2014, he was also fined for speeding at 53 miles per hour in a school zone.

https://wset.com/news/local/virginia-delegate-matt-fariss-facing-felony-charges-malicious-wounding-hit-and-run-reckless-driving-failure-to-stop-route-501-campbell-county-woman-injured-march-2023

[MiniMe]

5. Anybody want to bet that the Del was drunk

And left before they could test his blood

[barbaraann]

6. Here's the thing---HE HAD TIME TO SOBER UP IF HE WAS DRUNK

before he turned himself in.

[dalton99a]

10. +1

[old guy]

7. DUI.

[GreenWave]

8. Shouldn't it be described as "GOP lawbreaker"

Why honor them with "lawmaker"?

[gratuitous]

9. Sounds like someone fell asleep at the wheel

Although apparently Fariss is planning to brazen it out, denouncing the charges as false (later in the article, not in the excerpt posted). Crossed the center line, okay. It happens. Cross the oncoming lanes. Rarer, but can still occur if the driver isn't too quick to react. Hit a pedestrian off the road on the other side? The most charitable I can get is he fell asleep. There are other possibilities, but they are quite a bit darker.