Driver charged in fatal hit-and-run incident said he doesn't have a licence because he's blind

A man who police say fatally struck a 13-year-old girl with his vehicle in Michigan last month told police he didn't have a licence because he is legally blind.



Hector Arroyo, 68, called police to report that he thought he struck a deer at around 7:25am on Oct. 28, while he was driving. Arroyo told Det. James Maltby, of the Eaton County Sheriff's Office he didn't stop because he didn't have a licence.

He says that the Secretary of State had suspended it because he's "basically legally blind." Maltby added that the time frame and location matched up with the crash that killed Waverly High School ninth-grader Helina Dirba, 13, who was crossing near Meryl S. Colt Elementary School.



She died at a local hospital several days later. Arroyo is charged with involuntary homicide-manslaughter with a vehicle, driving while licence suspended causing death and failure to stop at the scene of a crash causing injury or death. A preliminary hearing is scheduled for Dec. 10 in Eaton County District Court. Arroyo faces up to 15 years in prison if convicted.

With news video.