BUFFALO, N.Y. (WKBW) — The Erie County District Attorney's Office announced that 33-year-old Frankie C. Hauser of West Seneca pleaded guilty in Erie County Court Judge Suzanne Maxwell Barnes to one count of leaving the scene of an incident without reporting resulting in death.
The district attorney's office said on February 26, 2022, Hauser was driving a Jeep on Clinton Street in the Town of Cheektowaga when he hit 64-year-old Paul Kitchen who was walking underneath the I-90 bridge. Kitchen was walking along the side of the road with the assistance of a walker when he was hit by Hauser from behind. Hauser drove away from the scene without reporting the incident to police.
Another motorist saw Kitchen in the road and called 911. He was taken by ambulance to ECMC where he died from his injuries.
7 News spoke to Kitchen's family in March 2022, his family described him as fun-loving, funny, and regimented and said he was killed on his 64th birthday.
The district attorney's office said Hauser faces a maximum sentence of seven years in prison and is scheduled to be sentenced on April 4, 2024. He remains released on his own recognizance.
