Hit-and-run driver will not serve jail time

May 3, 2017

A New Bedford woman who fled the scene after hitting a 14-year-old girl with a car will not face jail time.

Jessica Skaggs, 34, pleaded guilty in New Bedford District Court on May 2 to leaving the scene of an accident with personal injury and driving without a license, according to court documents. Judge Bernadette Sabra ordered Skaggs to two years of probation, $550 in fines, and 100 hours of community service, which can include four speaking engagements at schools.

According to court documents, Skaggs was driving a relative’s 2004 Nissan Sentra when she hit Skyla Lynk-Romano as the teen crossed Dartmouth Street on January 5. Lynk-Romano, a freshman at Greater New Bedford Regional Vocational Technical High School, was leaving the Dancer’s Edge dance studio and headed to the Buckley Moniz Travel parking lot across the street, where her father was waiting.

Skaggs turned herself in 30 minutes after fleeing the scene, according to court documents.

Lynk-Romano was airlifted to Hasbro Children’s Hospital in Rhode Island, where she remained for 28 days before she was relocated to a Boston rehabilitation hospital for three months, according to court documents.

In court filings, prosecutors asked for a six-month sentence in Bristol County House of Correction and a $500 fine.

There is no record of Skaggs having a Massachusetts driver’s license, according to court documents. Her license is suspended in Nevada, where she also has a criminal record.