Driver pleads guilty to 2003 fatal hit-and-run

And he now faces a lawsuit from the estate of the man who died in the U.S. 19 hit-and-run.

By STEVE THOMPSON
Published January 5, 2006

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HUDSON - Two years after fleeing the scene of a deadly crash, a 30-year-old Port Richey man has pleaded guilty and faces 10 years of probation.

The man also faces a lawsuit from the estate of the man who died in the crash.

Dec. 23, 2003, just after 2 a.m., Shane Darren Sandau was driving a Ford Windstar van north on U.S. 19. After hitting a pedestrian, he kept going and abandoned the van several miles north in the parking lot of the Hudson post office, a Florida Highway Patrol report said.

The pedestrian, 37-year-old Marty Lee King, had been walking home after shooting pool with friends. He was pronounced dead on the scene.

Seven hours later, Sandau turned himself in to the Pasco County Sheriff's Office.

Sandau was released from the county jail the next month on $15,000 bail. He initially pleaded not guilty to a charge of leaving the scene of a fatal crash.

Last month, he changed that plea to guilty. He was sentenced Dec. 9, according to the state Department of Corrections.

Dec. 22, a representative of King's estate, Jody Carswell, sued Sandau for an amount in excess of $15,000, a threshold that qualifies the lawsuit for circuit court.

The lawsuit calls King's death "a direct and proximate result of the negligence of" Sandau. It says King's survivors have suffered loss of support in addition to mental pain and suffering.

Neither Carswell, her attorney, nor Sandau could be reached for comment Wednesday.

Steve Thompson covers crime in Pasco County. He can be reached in west Pasco at 869-6245 or toll-free at 1-800-333-7505, ext. 6245. His e-mail address is sthompson@sptimes.com