Woman arrested in connection with hit-and-run which seriously injured Singaporean student in US

SINGAPORE - The police at the University at Buffalo (UB) in the United States arrested a woman on Friday (Nov 16) in connection with a hit-and-run accident on Nov 1, which left a Singaporean seriously injured.

UB said in a statement on Friday that Hannah M. Christensen, a 20-year-old student at the university, had been charged with leaving the scene of a serious injury accident without reporting.

Christensen is from New York, where UB is located, and resides in an off-campus apartment in Buffalo.

She allegedly drove a 2005 Honda Civic which struck Ms Renuka Ramanadhan, a 20-year-old Singaporean studying at UB, at around 10pm on Nov 1.

At the time, Ms Renuka was crossing the road in front of the Hadley Village Apartments on the university's North Campus, where she lived.

The accident left her unconscious and in need of immediate surgery.

UB said on Friday that Ms Renuka currently remains in stable condition at the Erie County Medical Centre in Buffalo.

Christensen was identified as a suspect to police after a person who knew her, and knew she had said she struck something on campus, saw news reports of the hit-and-run.

The university's police subsequently got a warrant to seize Christensen's vehicle for evidence collection.

UB said that Christensen has been cooperative during the investigation.

It added that, generally speaking, the university has an on-campus judiciary process to address violations of the university's Student Code of Conduct.

If a student's action is found to have violated the Code, the student may be subject to a variety of sanctions, including warnings, probation, community service, long-term suspension and expulsion.

However, due to federal privacy laws protecting student academic records, UB was unable to comment further on any disciplinary actions that may involve Christensen.

UB's statement also said that Christensen's charge is considered a class E felony. According to various New York legal websites, class E felonies carry a maximum sentence of four years in jail.

This article was first published in The Straits Times. Permission required for reproduction.