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SOUTH BRUNSWICK: Hit and run student gets probation

By Charles W. Kim, Managing Editor
   A Rutgers University student that ran down a South Brunswick High School student last April will get a year of probation and lose her driver’s license for three months, according to police.
   Shivangi Patel, 20, of Monmouth Junction pleaded guilty last month to one count of endangering an injured victim and failure to yield to a pedestrian, according to police.
   Middlesex County Superior Court Judge Joseph Paone sentenced Ms. Patel on Jan. 24, giving her one year of probation and the loss of her driver’s license for three months, according to police.
   Police said she will also have to complete 15 days of community service and must remain in school.
   The Rutgers education major and SBHS alumnus was going to the high school on Ridge Road for classroom observation on April 13.
   In the parking lot of the school, she struck a 15-year-old female student in the crosswalk and then fled the scene, according to police.
   The victim was knocked onto the hood of the car, smashing the passenger side window before being thrown to the ground with a severe concussion and broken clavicle, according to police.
   Ms. Patel drove to her home near the high school and called her father, Rajesh Patel, 52, to bring her back to the school for the classroom observation.
   According to school records, Ms. Patel observed a class at the high school from 8 a.m. to 11 a.m..
   Police were eventually able to piece the case together from eyewitnesses and parts of the car left at the scene.
   The investigation by Sgt. Ken Drost led police to the Patel home where the damaged vehicle was discovered.
   Ms. Patel was arrested and later indicted with leaving the scene of an accident with severe bodily injury and endangering an injured victim which are both third-degree crimes. Her father was also later indicted with hindering his daughter’s apprehension. He is still facing charges of fourth-degree hindering apprehension by attempting to conceal the vehicle and the driver from police. Rajesh Patel was also issued a summons for failure to report an accident and for concealing evidence, according to police.
   The parents of the victim could not be reached by the Post’s deadline.