The person I hit said he was ok and we exchanged insurance information. Now I get a letter from that sheriffs dept saying there is a warrant for my arrest and it's been almost five years. I called the other persons insurance comapny and they said that case was closed and my insurance company at the time paid the claim for that accident. I wanted to know the statue of limitation for Washington State in regards to charging somebody with hit and run? How could they bring these charges against me anyway if the person I hit and I agreed we would let our insurance companies handle it? Thank you, B from Iowa
2006-11-26 10:07:14 · 7 answers · asked by Bernadette H 1 in Politics & Government ➔ Law Enforcement & Police
I would retain an attorney.
2006-11-26 10:10:40 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
If the warrant was issued shortly after the event, a warrant never expires, you said that the sheriff office said that the warrant had been there for almost 5 years. so they pressed charges shortly after the accident, a warrant can stay active forever.
Next it does not matter if you paid all of the bills, and if the insurnace case is closed, the CIVIL case and the Criminal charge for leaving the scene is two different things.
It has nothing to do with what you agreed to with the other driver and what your insurance company did.
So from what you said the statue of limitation does not apply since a warrant was issued shortly after the event
2006-11-26 10:24:01 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
The statute of limitations would basically stop running once the police got an arrest warrant and were unable to find you. If they did not conduct a reasonable search for you, the statute would have tolled from the time of the incident until now. The statute of limitations for a hit and run involving no injury is only 2 years.
From what you say, it sounds like some information got mixed up somewhere, since you clearly stopped and traded information as required and did not violate the law at all, regardless of whether the statute of limitation is now up.
2006-11-26 10:27:02 · answer #3 · answered by James 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
The real question is whether or not you went to the local police station and filed the required report? If not, you were breaking the law. If the other person did, who knows what he put on his report. It is easier to just let the police respond and handle business. I was a deputy in Washington for 5 years. We regularly responded to non-injury collisions. Better find out what jurisdiction has the warrant and start calling the prosecutors office to get some guidance.
2006-11-26 10:59:29 · answer #4 · answered by spag 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
If you have the papers regarding the settlement between the two of you, then there is no case. To put your mind at ease, talk to a lawyer.
2006-11-26 10:23:45 · answer #5 · answered by WC 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
never leave scene of an accident..
you don't know what other person did after you left....
and what statue of limitation?
you better get an attorney to get this matter settled
2006-11-26 10:11:07 · answer #6 · answered by cork 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Obviously it is longer then 4 years, probably seven.
2006-11-26 10:12:12 · answer #7 · answered by producer_vortex 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋