$500 Bail For Ex-Convict With Flight Record, Involved In Dartmouth Hit & Run

To the dismay of Bristol County prosecutor Matt Sylvia, Judge Thomas Barrett released the driver of a hit & run accident in Dartmouth last Thursday night, on $500 bail. Thirty-four year old ex-convict Jessica Skaggs, (who was driving without a license) was behind two other vehicles who stopped for a pedestrian on a crosswalk at Bliss Corner, when witnesses say she went around them and struck a 14 year old  girl who was critically injured while on her way to her dance studio, leaving her for dead.

Skyla Lynk-Romano a freshman at New Bedford Vocational Tech High School was airlifted to Hasbro's Children's Hospital in Rhode Island where surgery was performed on her for brain trauma and other serious injuries.

 Photo of Skyla Lynk-Romano (above)

Skaggs who apparently has a suspended Nevada license and no Massachusetts issued license, was driving a 2004 Nissan Sentra, allegedly with permission from the vehicle's owner Joaquina Andrade, also of New Bedford. She too was cited for allowing an improper driver to operate a motor vehicle, according to Curt Brown in the New Bedford Standard Times.

Five-hundred dollars? Even the liberal Boston Globe used a case of which was presided over by Judge Thomas S Barrett as a perfect example of how incredibly lenient judges are in cases of DUI and their accidents. If the incredibly liberal Boston Globe has a problem with court leniency, then you know there is a serious issue.

In the case of Jessica Skaggs, $500 is incredibly stupid as this ex-convict of Florence McClure Women's Correctional Center of Las Vegas has already built up her credit for suspicion to not obey court orders. On September 2, 2015, she failed to obey a Washoe County, Nevada court ordered probation appearance after serving prison time to answer to felony charges, and according to WJAR NBC Providence, one of them being Grand Larceny auto-theft. Subsequently she was also charged with contempt of court for that.

Once again, after prosecutors asked for $10,000 bail, Judge Barrett said "I don't think she is a risk to flee."

Well your Honor, are you basing this on her already reaching her quota for fleeing court dates, because she just did flee from a court ordered appearance and was charged for it just over a year ago in Washoe County, NV! $500 is absurd enough, considering her actions, her criminal record and the circumstances of how serious the victim's condition is.

Message sent to others who debate fleeing the scene of accidents in Bristol County; There are really no consequences.