A white man in Wisconsin accused of accelerating his truck through a mostly Black crowd, injuring a woman, and fleeing the scene afterward has pled guilty to a felony charge but could have his record wiped clean, The Grio reports.
On Friday (August 5), Brendan O’Neil admitted to injuring a Black woman during the 2020 hit-and-run incident where he rammed his truck through a sea of people.
O'Neil submitted a guilty plea and was convicted of hit-and-run involving injury as a part of a deal struck with prosecutors that will give him an opportunity to clear the charge from his record.
Per the deal, O'Neil's charges will be wiped if he completes a first-time offenders program.
Video of the incident shows O'Neil's GMC truck "lurch forward" toward a Black crowd outside of a bar in Madison, Wisconsin.
According to a criminal complaint, the driver ran into Alize Carter, a then-24-year-old Black woman who suffered a fractured hand, abrasions, and a concussion after being knocked into a nearby intersection.
Activist groups sought hate crime charges for the hit-and-run incident, which occurred at the height of Black Lives Matter protests.
Then-acting police chief Vic Wahl alleged that several people in the crowd jumped on the bed of O'Neil's truck, danced on it, and physically attacked the driver, according to the Wisconsin State Journal.
“The driver was punched in the face and that is when he drove into the crowd,” Wahl said in a report. “The driver was further attacked and continued to drive through the crowd driving over (the) victim.”
Chris Van Wagner, O'Neil's attorney, said the driver made efforts to provide Carter financial compensation for the incident via his insurer.
Get the latest news 24/7 on The Black Information Network. Listen now on the iHeartRadio app or click HERE to tune in live.