Man convicted in orange rabbit pedicab hit-and-run

[November 02, 2009]  PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) -- The Mercedes driver testified he didn't see the 6-foot-tall orange rabbit driving a pedicab because he was fumbling for a dropped cell phone.

Pedicab driver Kate Altermatt tells The Oregonian she finds that hard to believe, noting she was wearing a bright orange bunny suit -- for Easter -- and her Cascadia Pedicab was lit up with reflectors and a blinking red light. She says the crash sent her flying and totaled the pedicab.

She confronted the driver Wednesday in Multnomah County Circuit Court.

After a daylong trial, Judge Karin Immergut found Edward Cespedes-Rodriguez guilty of hit-and-run driving for leaving the scene of the crash last April 12.

But Immergut cleared the 34-year-old Portland man of recklessly endangering another person.

___

Information from: The Oregonian, http://www.oregonlive.com/

[Associated Press]

Copyright 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.