Wichita man sentenced over collision that killed 80-year-old neighbor fetching mail
A judge on Tuesday sentenced a 59-year-old Wichita man to two years, eight months in prison for leaving the scene of an accident that killed an 80-year-old man fetching his mail on Election Day 2020.
Jeffrey T. Jack pleaded guilty on Aug. 18 to one count of leaving the scene of an accident in the Nov. 3, 2020, death of James “Jim” Kaminsky, a former college-level math instructor and retired aircraft company computer systems analyst. Jack was sentenced to the 32-month term by Sedgwick County District Judge Bruce Brown, according to Dan Dillon, a spokesman for the Sedgwick County District Attorney’s Office.
Wichita police have said Jack hit Kaminsky with his truck in the 1600 block of North Parkridge, near 13th and 119th Streets, around 6:15 p.m. as Kaminsky crossed the street to go home after checking his mailbox.
Jack, who lived in the same neighborhood as Kaminsky, drank at least four vodka and water beverages with friends and his wife at a northwest Wichita bar before heading home in his white 2002 GMC Sierra, according to a probable cause affidavit released in the case. Neighbors who witnessed the collision told police they heard the truck hit Kaminsky and drive off.
Police later found Jack’s empty and damaged truck parked in a nearby driveway and Jack hiding in a backyard shed, the affidavit says.
When he was questioned by police, Jack denied coming from a bar, told police alcohol did not factor into the crash and claimed that Kaminsky had jumped or stepped out in front of his truck, scaring him. A sample of his blood drawn five hours and 38 minutes after the deadly collision had an ethanol content of 0.135, more than the legal limit of .08 to drive in Kansas, the affidavit says.
In a written motion filed with the court Tuesday, Jack’s lawyer asked the judge to be lenient in sentencing, either by putting him on probation or granting a downward durational departure, writing that “strict adherence to the sentencing guidelines ... would result in an overly harsh and unjust result” that would “devastate” Jack’s entire family.
The lawyer added that Jack “is remorseful for any damage caused to the victim’s family” and “needs alcohol treatment for his problem which he is receiving.”
This story was originally published October 11, 2022 at 5:46 PM.
