A speeding hit-and-run driver who caused a fatal collision in Smethwick has been jailed - after West Midlands Police promptly traced his car and arrested him.
Vrabian Antonescu tried to overtake a taxi along Waterloo Road, but ended up hitting the side of the vehicle just before 10pm on 3 October last year.
It caused the vehicle to veer into a parked Vauxhall Corsa which Surinderjit Saund was just about to get into.
The 68-year-old woman suffered serious injuries and was confirmed dead at the scene.
Antonescu stopped further down the road but, after initially returning to the scene of the collision, drove off in his Mercedes - despite not having a tyre on a front wheel.
(Image - Vrabian Antonescu)
Officers promptly followed the markings the damaged wheel had left on the road surface and found the Mercedes and Antonescu in a nearby street.
The 24-year-old was arrested in Marlborough Road just after 11pm and further enquiries established he had been travelling at 40mph in a 30mph zone just before the collision.
Antonescu, of Wolverhampton, pleaded guilty to causing death by dangerous driving yesterday (2 December) at the start of a planned trial.
He was sentenced to two years and 10 months and given a three year driving ban to commence on his release.
Detective Sergeant Paul Hughes, from the Serious Collision Investigation Unit, said: "This was a tragic case where Mrs Saund was sadly in the wrong place at the wrong time.
"It was the dangerous driving of Antonescu which caused the collision and the taxi driver was blameless in what happened.
"Antonescu drove off but we were able to quickly trace the car and him that same evening by following the markings his wheel left on the road.
"Our sympathies remain with the family of Mrs Saund and hope this custodial sentence will provide some solace."
Image credit: West Midlands Police
