Kent man pleads guilty in hit-and-run where girl struck on bike
ALBION – A Kent resident has pleaded guilty in a hit-and-run last summer when a girl was struck on her bike.
Jeffrey P. VanNostrand, 52, pleaded guilty in Orleans County Court to reckless endangerment in the first degree and driving while intoxicated.
VanNostrand will be sentenced on May 23 and could face a maximum of 1 1/3 to 4 years in state prison.
He was driving on Aug. 16 when he allegedly struck a child on a bicycle at 8:47 p.m. on Baker Road. The girl was injured and transported to Strong Memorial by Mercy Flight.
VanNostrand allegedly fled the scene and turned himself in the following morning.
Judge James Punch recused himself from the case. The judge in December said the case is very similar to another hit-and-run with VanNostrand in 1989 where a girl was injured.
The judge said he remembered the details from the 1989 case, back when he was district attorney in Orleans County. Punch said the latest incident with VanNostrand is “infuriating” given the prior incident.
Judge Sara Sheldon handled the case after Punch recused himself.
