Cleveland man gets 11 years for hit-skip death of teacher

CLEVELAND (AP) — A judge has sentenced a Cleveland man to 11 years in prison for the hit-skip death of a jogger just minutes after the driver fled from police during a traffic stop.

Derick Ward, 45, was sentenced today in Cleveland after earlier pleading guilty to aggravated vehicular homicide, failing to stop after an accident and failing to obey a police signal. Ward was charged in the death of James Caffrey, a fifth-grade teacher in the Shaker Heights school district who was struck while jogging in that city.

Authorities say Ward fled from University Heights police on Jan. 24 and abandoned his car after hitting Caffrey. Ward was arrested in August.