In April, Christopher Pinkerton's life was forever changed after a hit-and-run driver from Fairfax severed his arm with a car. And in November, that driver will learn how his own life will change when he is sentenced for that deed.
The incident occurred April 24 on Route 29 in Fairfax. Last Friday in Fairfax County Circuit Court, Edward Sliter, 21, of 12106 Goodwood Drive, pleaded guilty to felony hit and run.
According to Fairfax County police, Pinkerton of Barboursville, W.Va., was walking east on Route 29, approaching West Ox Road in Fairfax, around 3:30 a.m., when the tragedy occurred. A vehicle traveling east on Route 29 struck him and severed his arm.
The driver fled, but a passing motorist saw Pinkerton, immediately called 911 and stayed with him until emergency personnel arrived. He was taken to the hospital in critical condition.
A married father of two young sons, Pinkerton is the marketing director for a trail system in southern West Virginia. He was in Virginia attending an outdoor-recreation trade show at the Dulles Expo Center and was walking back to the hotel where he was staying. But being unfamiliar with the area, he got lost and couldn't find it.
After the incident, police looked for an older-model, Oldsmobile Cutlass Cierra with minor front-end damage and possible passenger-side damage to the windshield and side-view mirror. The car also had a missing radio antenna.
TWO DAYS LATER, police developed information leading them to Sliter's home — less than a mile from the scene of the accident. There they found a 1994 Oldsmobile Cutlass "with damage consistent with the accident." Sliter surrendered to police that day, April 26, and was later released on $30,000 bond.
On June 16 in General District Court, Judge Robert Smith certified his case to the grand jury — which indicted Sliter on July 19. The Fairfax man then pleaded guilty last Wednesday, Sept. 8, before Judge Jonathan Thacher. After ascertaining that Sliter was entering his plea, freely and voluntarily — and because he is, in fact, guilty, Thacher accepted the plea and set his sentencing for Nov. 12.