Hit and Run Lawyer in Tempe, AZ

Tempe Police lets people make some reports through an online form, and "Private Property Hit and Run" is one of the listed incident types. To qualify, the incident has to be non-emergency, inside Tempe and off the Arizona State University campus, and the person reporting needs an email address. Everything else, including a collision on a city street, goes to the department by phone at its non-emergency number, 480-350-8311, or to 9-1-1. So a scrape in an apartment or shopping center lot may first exist as an online report, while a street crash usually brings an officer to the scene.

Collision work has a home inside the department. The Tempe Police Traffic Section describes motor officers who specialize in traffic collisions, special events, hit-and-run investigations and vehicular crimes. When the other car's driver can only offer a partial plate and a color, a motor officer may be the person who follows the registration to an owner and knocks on a door.

On campus the picture changes. ASU Police is a full-service agency with original jurisdiction on property owned or controlled by the Arizona Board of Regents, and the Tempe online form excludes incidents at ASU. If your paperwork comes from ASU Police, follow the court it names.

The injury question sorts the case. Under Arizona law, a driver who leaves after a crash that only damaged an attended vehicle, or who hits an unattended vehicle and neither notifies the owner nor leaves a note, commits a class 1 misdemeanor. In Tempe, a misdemeanor written by Tempe Police goes to the Criminal Division of the Tempe City Attorney's Office, which prosecutes misdemeanors in Tempe Municipal Court on Fifth Street. If anyone was injured or killed, failing to stop or to meet the information and assistance duties is a felony, and felonies in Maricopa County are prosecuted by the County Attorney's Office, whose Vehicular Crimes Bureau handles crimes involving motor vehicle collisions.

An injury can surface later. A passenger who felt fine at the scene may see a doctor two days afterward, and once those medical records reach the report, the charging question can move from the city prosecutor to the county. We watch for that shift from the first call.

Booking on a felony leads to an initial appearance, and for someone held in the county jail that hearing takes place at Intake, Transfer and Release, 2670 S. 28th Dr., Phoenix. Rule 4.1 of the Arizona Rules of Criminal Procedure requires it within 24 hours of arrest, and the judge there sets release conditions. A damage-only case, by contrast, often begins with a citation or a summons listing a date at Tempe Municipal Court, which the court treats as the arraignment.

Avoiding jail is not the same as avoiding a conviction. A conviction for leaving an injury crash brings an MVD revocation measured in years, a felony conviction ends the right to possess a firearm until that right is restored, and insurers, employers and licensing boards can all see the outcome. If you are not a U.S. citizen, get immigration advice before any plea.