Man Who Deliberately Struck Bicyclist With Car Sentenced
By Lasca Randels
InkFreeNews
WARSAW — A Warsaw man who deliberately struck a bicyclist with his car last year will serve a split sentence.
Dominique Demond Richardson, 28, 620 N. Zimmer Road, Warsaw, was in Kosciusko Superior Court 3 Wednesday, June 24, where he pleaded guilty to battery while armed with a deadly weapon, a level 5 felony.
Two other charges were dismissed as part of the plea agreement.
On Aug. 26, 2019, Warsaw Police were contacted regarding a report of a car versus bicycle accident on East Market Street.
The bicyclist had lacerations to his head, knees, chest, stomach and elbows.
According to court documents, the bicyclist was traveling on East Market Street when a Cadillac bumped into him.
Three men exited the vehicle and began to yell at the bicyclist and threaten him. The bicyclist then rode away on his bike and the Cadillac sped up and hit him from behind.
This caused the bicyclist to flip onto the hood of the vehicle, hitting his head on the windshield, according to court documents.
In court Wednesday, Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Joseph Sobek pointed out that Richardson has a prior criminal history.
Richardson apologized for his actions, saying the situation escalated quickly and got out of control.
Judge Joe Sutton pointed out that Richardson has picked up three additional charges since that crime was committed.
The plea agreement involves restitution to the victim in the amount of $1,473.
Sutton sentenced Richardson to a split sentence in order to allow Richardson time to work and pay the restitution before serving the executed portion of the sentence.
Richardson was sentenced to three years, with one year of that time to be served in the Kosciusko County Jail. Due to the split sentence, Richardson will serve the first six months on probation. On Dec. 31, Richardson will report to the Kosciusko County Jail to begin serving the one year sentence in jail. The remaining time will then be served on formal probation.
Sutton urged Richardson to take probation seriously and to make good decisions.
“I don’t want to see you back here,” Sutton said. “But you kind of control your future on that.”
Richardson’s sentence will be served consecutive to any sentence imposed in other pending cases. Richardson was given 30 days of jail time credit.