KANSAS CITY, Mo. — A Kansas City Chiefs team physician who struck and killed a Good Samaritan last November on Interstate 70 and Lee's Summit Road pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge in the case.
Dr. Michael Monaco was driving on the highway when he hit Robert Piper.
Monaco had been driving home after returning from the Chiefs' game after the team played in Germany.
Piper and his family had came across a separate crash that had occurred. A separate person also died in that crash.
He stopped and got out of his own car to see if he could assist when Monaco hit Piper, killing him.
Piper's family filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Monaco, which has since been settled, though the details of the settlement aren't publicly available.
Monaco pleaded guilty to misdemeanor careless and imprudent driving. He agreed to pay a $2,000 fine.
Jackson County Prosecuting Attorney Jean Peters Baker's office released a statement on Monaco's plea and facts surrounding the case.
Peters Baker's office said that the original crash that Piper stopped to check on was caused by a 15-year-old teen who was driving a stolen car and was not licensed.
The teen was also driving under the influence of marijuana, according to Peters Baker's office.
An investigation found Monaco drove by the crash that Piper had stopped to check on, but did not manage to avoid and drive around it.
Monaco did not brake, and instead swerved at the last moment.
"This marks the most appropriate outcome of the portion of this tragedy that is under the jurisdiction of the Jackson County Prosecutor’s Office," Peters Baker's office said in a statement. "Our community, especially young teens, should heed a life-and-death lesson here. Underage drivers on drugs pose a deadly threat. Our sympathies go to the families of both victims, one who died young and promising and another who simply was trying to offer aid and comfort."
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