ELYRIA, Ohio — EDITOR'S NOTE: The video above is from the woman's 2019 arrest.
A woman who hit and nearly killed a bicyclist more than two years ago in Avon Lake has avoided prison time for her actions.
Allison Spoerl was sentenced Monday to a year of probation for the hit-skip crash that left Patty Banks critically injured. She had faced up to six years behind bars after pleading guilty last month to felony charges of tampering with evidence and hit-skip, along with multiple misdemeanors.
Spoerl was 21 years old when she struck Banks with her car in May of 2019 on Lake Road. She was making a left turn when she hit the bike and sped off, and Banks eventually had to be air-lifted to the hospital.
Banks addressed the court before sentencing and admonished Spoerl for her actions after the collision, namely lying to her parents about what happened and merely calling the insurance company minutes later and claiming she hit a trash can. She also says she was once a triathlete, but can no longer compete due to the injuries she suffered.
"This whole thing has never been about Allison hitting me with her car," Banks said. "It's always been about the repeated selfish decisions she made that day and the days following the event."
Spoerl's attorney did not excuse his client's lies and repeatedly said she has "accepted responsibility," but also claimed she has been diagnosed with "severe anxiety" that contributed to her actions in the aftermath and also noted she is currently in grad school to become a speech pathologist. Spoerl then read a letter of apology to Banks, saying she was "guilt-ridden" by her actions both during and after the collision.
"I know that my parents did not raise me this way," Spoerl wrote. "I hope you forgive me for everything, but I understand if you cannot."
In delivering his ruling, Lorain County Judge John R. Miraldi offered his condolences to Banks but also acknowledged Spoerl's crimes did not meet the standard for vehicular assault, saying the collision was an "accident" and that Banks "panicked" when she drove away. He also noted Spoerl's score of just 1 out of 10 on the Ohio Risk Assessment System (ORAS) test.
"In all my years on the bench, I've never seen a 1," Miraldi said. "There's absolutely near-zero probability that she would reoffend."
Should Spoerl violate the terms of her probation, she could be sentenced to up to three years in prison. She also received a six-month suspension of her driver's license, although she got credit for 64 days of time served and will still be able to drive to school and work.
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