Man sentenced to the maximum

Caruso was on parole for aggravated robbery when the incident occurred.
YOUNGSTOWN -- It was an accident, David A. Caruso says, but the courts call it vehicular assault.
Caruso, 25, who gave addresses on Craiger and Lenox avenues, was sentenced Thursday to 21/2 years in prison by Judge R. Scott Krichbaum of Mahoning County Common Pleas Court. Caruso will serve 11/2 years for vehicular assault and one year for leaving the scene of an accident. Both are maximum sentences.
The event occurred in 2005. Caruso was speeding, driving erratically and passing illegally on Powers Way when the vehicle he was driving struck another driven by Elizabeth Berry of Youngstown, assistant County Prosecutor Jon Michael Thompson said. Berry was at a traffic light at Powers Way and Windsor Avenue and was attempting to turn left when she was struck, Thompson said.
Berry's car slammed into a utility pole and Caruso's flipped over. Caruso got out and ran away, but returned to the scene moments later, where witnesses identified him. When he learned that Berry may have died, he ran away again, Judge Krichbaum said.
Berry survived but suffered serious injuries. She attended the sentencing but was too shaky to speak, so her daughter read her victim impact statement for her.
Caruso was on parole for an aggravated robbery conviction when the crash occurred, the judge noted.
"You weren't man enough to stay there to see how she was. You could have killed her," Judge Krichbaum said. "You sentenced her to a lifetime of pain and bad memories."
Caruso said he shouldn't have been driving that day.