Event was caught on security camera outside Crouse Hospital.
Syracuse, NY - A Syracuse teenager was sentenced today to serve 1 1/3 to four years in state prison for running down a nurse outside the hospital where she worked and leaving the scene of the crash.
"I'm sorry," Andre Escobar told state Supreme Court Justice John Brunetti in court.
Escobar, 17, of 326 N. Beech St., pleaded guilty April 9 to a felony charge of second-degree assault in the Dec. 2 hit-run crash that seriously injured Rebecca Forsythe.
Forsythe, 61, was working as a temporary nurse at Crouse Hospital and was crossing the street in front of the hospital to retrieve something from her car in the parking garage when she was run down by a passing vehicle.
"It was surreal," Forsythe wrote of the crash in a statement read to the court today by Senior Assistant District Attorney Christopher Bednarski.
She wrote of hearing the approaching car accelerating to her "horror and surprise" and then finding herself facing two onrushing headlights.
The first thought that occurred to her as she lay on the wet pavement after being tossed over the hood and roof of the car was "I can't believe I'm alive," Forsythe wrote.
Forsythe also wrote of her injuries - broken bones in her neck and her leg - and the physical therapy she has undergone and will continue to face as she recuperates at home in Florida.
She noted she may never be able to return to work as a nurse, but remained hopeful about her future nonetheless.
Forsythe also wrote that she had no animosity toward Escobar, adding she hoped he would use the time in prison to "reconsider his direction in life."
Defense lawyer Aurora Flores told Brunetti Escobar had been remorseful from the outset and had hoped to be able to apologize personally to the victim. Forsythe, however, was unable to be in court for the sentencing, Bednarski said.
The hit-run crash was caught on a hospital security camera which Crouse Hospital made available to police. Police then released the tape to the media in seeking the public's help in locating the hit-run driver.
An anonymous tip led police to the hit-run vehicle in the yard of a vacant house on West Newell Street Dec. 10. Escobar surrendered to police the following day.
Brunetti sentenced Escobar as a youthful offender, removing the felony conviction from his record and sealing the case file.
The judge also sentenced Escobar to a concurrent one-year penalty for an unrelated drug charge. Escobar pleaded guilty to third-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance in that matter.