Jamie Caldwell, Lexington, Kentucky teacher charged in fatal hit and run after striking pedestrian, Joshua Hampton, while driving to work, three times the legal driving limit.
A Kentucky school teacher has made bail after allegedly killing a pedestrian while purportedly driving under the influence on her way to school. After striking the man, the educator according to cops left the victim for dead as she drove to make her morning classes.
Jamie Caldwell a special education elementary teacher in Georgetown, at the time of her arrest mid April was charged with one count of aggravated operating a motor vehicle under the influence of alcohol and leaving the scene of an accident with failure to render aid or assist with death or serious physical injury, according to an April 16 release from the Lexington Police Department.
Lexington, Kentucky hit and run victim left to die
The 29-year-old Fayette County teacher made her first court appearance on Thursday, May 1, where she entered a not guilty plea to those charges and was released on bail, People Mag reported.
Caldwell was placed under house arrest as a condition of her bail as police continue to investigate the incident, according to the LPD.
In the release, the LPD says that officers were dispatched to the scene of a in a hit and run incident just before 7 a.m. in Lexington on April 16.
Officers arrived to find the victim suffering from life-threatening injuries, and he was transported to a nearby hospital for treatment, according to the release.
The victim days later mortally succumbed from multiple blunt force trauma injuries on April 18, and was identified as 32-year-old man, Joshua Hampton of Lily, Kentucky according to the Fayette County Coroner’s Office.
Three times over legal drinking limit
Cops were able to locate the hit and run driver after police used real-time intelligence to track down the car, which they found displaying ‘obvious signs of damage’ in a parking lot at Glendover Elementary, where Caldwell worked as a teacher.
Officers rounded up Caldwell who reeked of alcohol, KBTX reported.
Caldwell failed field sobriety tests, with a breath test result came back at .278, more than three times Kentucky’s legal limit.
Caldwell was then booked into the Fayette County Detention Center.
An arrest citation stated Caldwell admitting to drinking the night before along with taking prescription anxiety, depression, and blood pressure medications earlier in the morning.
According to the citation, Caldwell told officers she heard a ‘thud,’ but didn’t realize she had hit someone.
In a statement issued after her arrest, a spokesperson for the Fayette County Public Schools said that the district would not be commenting due to the ongoing investigation. The spokesperson said Caldwell had been placed on administrative leave.
The case is set to a grand jury in the coming weeks.
