That’s what District Attorney Mark Hurlbert believes if the hit and run driver has a high paying job. Hulbert is the DA that didn’t have a problem charging Katie Brazelton and Wendy Lyall with felonies last spring because Wendy raced with Katie’s Leadville 100 entry in 2009. Both of them lost their jobs even though the charges pleaded down to misdemeanors.
On July 3rd, Dr. Steven Milo was riding his bike near Edwards, CO and was hit from behind by Martin Joel Erzinger. Erzinger drove a few miles to Avon where he called the Mercedes auto assistance service to ask that his car be towed because of damage. Erzinger told police he didn’t know he had hit Milo.
Milo suffered spinal cord injuries, bleeding from his brain and damage to his knee and scapula, according to court documents. Over the past six weeks he has suffered “disabling” spinal headaches and faces multiple surgeries for a herniated disc and plastic surgery to fix the scars he suffered in the accident.
Now the DA wants to drop felony charges against Erzinger and instead let him plead to two misdemeanor traffic charges because he could lose his job. Erzinger is a director in private wealth management at Morgan Stanley Smith Barney in Denver. He manages more than $1 billion in assets and would have to publicly disclose any felony charge within 30 days, according to North American Securities Dealers regulations.
The Vail Daily quotes Hulbert as saying “Felony convictions have some pretty serious job implications for someone in Mr. Erzinger’s profession, and that entered into it, When you’re talking about restitution, you don’t want to take away his ability to pay.”
“Mr. Erzinger struck me, fled and left me for dead on the highway,” Milo wrote. “Neither his financial prominence nor my financial situation should be factors in your prosecution of this case.”
You can read more details on the case in an article from the Vail Daily.
A petition has been set up that asks Hulbert to not drop felony charges. Maybe if Hulbert hears enough outrage, he’ll reconsider.
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Tags: Colorado, cycling, Mark Hurlbert, Martin Joel Erzinger, share the road, Steven Milo
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[…] week I wrote about a wealthy money manager, Martin Joel Erzinger, hitting a cyclist and seriously injuring him in Avon, CO. He left him laying […]
[…] CO, was had offered a plea bargain that dropped a felony charge against Martin Joel Erzinger for a hit and run involving a cyclist near Edwards, CO. Erzinger is a money manager for wealthy clients. Hulbert said “Felony convictions have some […]
[…] in the case I’ve been following where Martin Joel Erzinger for a cyclist near Edwards, CO and left the scene of the accicent, Eagle County District Judge Fred Gannett accepted the plea bargain that dropped the felony charge. […]