Driver Gets Probation Over Hit-and-Run

A 72-year-old woman motorist, convicted of felony hit-and-run after she struck another elderly woman in a crosswalk because the woman wasn’t walking fast enough, was sentenced Thursday to three years probation.

The driver, Miriam Krissman of Van Nuys, was also fined $500 by Van Nuys Superior Court Judge James M. Coleman and ordered to perform 500 hours of community service for the hit-and-run accident that injured Velma Shows, 69, of Reseda.

Krissman was convicted by a jury July 27 after an earlier trial resulted in a hung jury.

Shows testified that she was walking in a crosswalk at Sherman Way and Etiwanda Avenue the afternoon of Sept. 14, 1988, when she heard someone say, “Hurry up, hurry up. Get out of my way.” Shows said Krissman’s car then did a U-turn in the intersection and knocked her down.

Shows suffered a broken leg, which required surgery, Deputy Dist. Atty. Terese M. Hutchison said.

A witness provided Los Angeles police with five of the six numbers and letters in the license plate of Krissman’s car. The damaged car was traced to Krissman, who told police that it had struck a tree.

Krissman’s attorney, Charles English, contended that Krissman was not in the area and was not involved in the accident.