Suspect who dyed hair, fled to Georgia after hit-and-run arraigned on manslaughter charges
SHELBY Twsp, Mich. (FOX 2) - Broadcasted onto a court television and through tears, Valerie Bostle primarily responded in the affirmative.
"Do you understand the three charges you're being accused of?" asked a judge.
"Yes sir," replied the 36-year-old.
"Do you understand the possible penalties if you are convicted of these offenses?" asked the judge again.
"Yes sir," she said again.
On Thursday, Bostle was arraigned on three felonies - manslaughter, involuntary manslaughter and failing to stop at the scene of an accident causing death. The charges, which carry up to 15 years in total prison time, are all the result of hit-and-run more than a month ago.
On June 5, Warren police responded to reports that a man had been struck and killed by a vehicle. The 55-year-old was Peter Chisholm and he was walking across Schoenherr near Julius around 10 p.m. when Bostle plowed into him.
He was dragged for a mile.
"What happened there should have never happened," said Warren Police Commissioner Bill Dwyer. "If she would've stopped, he may be with us today, he may still be alive."
Police report Bostle was on her way to work the night shift at SPI LLC, a plastic fabrication company in Shelby Township. After hitting Chisholm, she parked her car a little farther away and told her manager it needed to be towed.
Police found a piece of the car near the wreck a day after the incident. However, Bostle was nowhere to be found. Before hopping on a Greyhound bus for Georgia, she gave her car to a family friend who flips them. Police recovered it as the family-friend was on his way to sell it.
"She was on the run. We knew she was on the run," Dwyer said. "We got it out to the U.S. Marshals and we got it out to Crime Stoppers."
Bostle had left for Georgia with her 3-year-old daughter seven days after the hit-and-run. She told a judge during the arraignment she was going to see her child's father.
"I didn't run sir," Bostle pleaded.
"You didn't run?" the judge asked. "I thought the detective said you were arrested in Georgia."
"I was in Georgia for entirely different reasons, sir," she replied.
Bostle turned herself into police in Decatur on July 1. Her bond is set at $200,000.
"When someone ends up dead after a motor vehicle accident, getting out of the jurisdiction is not acceptable," said the judge.
As for her tears and excuse, Warren's police commissioner isn't buying it.
"It's fake, false remorse is what it is," Dwyer said. "She wants pity from the court, or from the law enforcement, or the family of the victim, she won't get it."
If Bostle does post bond, she'll be required to wear a GPS tether.