ST. LOUIS — The man accused of striking a 17-year-old boy with his car outside Ted Drewes Frozen Custard and leaving the scene is scheduled to go to trial in April.
Jacob Adler is charged with leaving the scene of an accident resulting in death as well as tampering with evidence. Police say Adler, then 25, struck Matthew Nikolai on July 29, 2022, while Nikolai was crossing Chippewa Street.
Police say Adler was seen on surveillance cameras parking his truck not far from the crash and walking back to the scene before walking back to his truck and driving away.
Police released surveillance images of the truck following the crash, which led a good Samaritan at an auto body shop in south St. Louis County to call police. They said Adler went there to get his truck repaired.
On Thursday, a judge scheduled a pretrial hearing for 10 a.m. on April 18. The trial was set for April 29.
St. Louis Circuit Attorney Gabe Gore’s office has offered Adler a plea deal that could land him a seven-year sentence and felony conviction. After all of the considerations for being a first-time offender, credit for time served and other provisions, that seven-year prison sentence could get knocked down to 120 days.
During a court date last month, the teen's mother, Maggie Nikolai, became tearful and said of the plea deal "My son's life was worth more than 120 days."
Adler, now 27, told the court he wanted to proceed to trial.
The plea deal is still in play.
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