OAK PARK, Mich. – A 24-year-old Detroit woman pleaded guilty Thursday to charges that she was drunk when she was involved in a hit-and-run crash that left an 84-year-old Oak Park man dead in November.
Police said Reaneen Rachell Wheat was driving drunk when she careened off the road and struck the man in Oak Park. The victim was walking on the sidewalk along Scotia Road, north of 9 Mile Road, on Nov. 24 when Wheat jumped the curb and hit him, officials said.
According to authorities, Wheat and another woman in her vehicle were arguing when she lost control and drove off the road. Wheat left the scene of the crash, but was found a short distance away, police said.
"I just rushed out there," witness Jeremy Funk said. "When I walked out there, there was a car parked on my lawn that had driven across the lawn and she ran over a body."
The man was taken to the hospital, where he died of his injuries.
Wheat was charged with operating while intoxicated causing death, failure to stop at the scene of an accident when at fault resulting in death and operating on a suspended license.
She was in court Thursday and pleaded guilty to the charges. She is expected to be sentenced June 14.