Judge rejects request for lower bond in Greensburg hit-and-run case

A man accused of severely injuring an elderly woman on Main Street in downtown Greensburg in December, thought he hit a pothole instead of a person when he left the scene, his attorney said Thursday.

“His mindset was not to leave the scene of an accident,” defense attorney Milton Raiford of Pittsburgh said Thursday in arguing before Greensburg District Judge Chris Flanigan. The attorney said Christopher Degnan, 44, of Greensburg, should have his $100,000 bond lowered so he could be released from the Westmoreland County Prison.

But, Assistant District Attorney Anthony S. Iannamorelli disagreed that a driver who hits a person might think they hit a pothole in the road.

“It is nothing like a pothole when you hit somebody. It is like a bomb going off,” Iannamorelli said.

Raiford contended that the 76-year-old woman was hit crossing Main Street at the intersection of Third Street, while jaywalking on the evening of Dec. 28. She pushed her wheeled walker across the street and hit the right corner of Degnan’s car, Raiford said. The attorney described the intersection as being “dimly lit.” There is a street light at Main and Third streets.

“It is not intentional,” Raiford said of the accident.

“I think she was in the wrong,” Raiford said following the hearing.

The woman has had six surgeries and is in a rehabilitation center, police said earlier this month.

“It is by the grace of God that she is alive.” Raiford said.

Degnan waived his rights to a preliminary hearing before Flanigan on charges of aggravated assault by vehicle, accidents involving injury and four summary counts in connection with the accident that occurred about 9:40 p.m. Dec. 28.

Flanigan declined to lower the $100,000 bond that has kept Degnan in the prison since his arrest by Greensburg police on May 17. Degnan could become a flight risk when he aware of the consequences of the charges, Flanigan said.

The sentencing guidelines call for Degnan to be incarcerated and that bond was appropriately set, Iannamorelli said.

Raiford argued that Degnan is not a flight risk and cooperated with police, calling them within 24 hours of the accident when he realized a woman was hit.

But, police said in court papers they had contacted Degnan on Dec. 30 when his Honda CR-V, with damage consistent with the turn signal compartment found at the scene of the accident, was spotted by city police on a street near Degnan’s residence.

City police said before Degnan’s arrest, they had been looking for him and had called upon him to surrender to authorities. He was arrested without incident at his home.