A Bethlehem man who admitted to running down an Albany resident more than a year ago will be spending time in prison.
Ian Eckardt-Rigberg, 20, was sentenced by Justice Thomas Breslin to 3 1/3 to 10 years in state prison in an Albany County Court this morning. He pleaded guilty this February to having struck city resident Rozell Whitehead.
Eckardt-Rigberg, of 93 Fernbank Ave., was 19 at the time of the incident. State Police had seen the car speeding at 75 mph in a 55 mph zone and were pursuing the car on Interstate 90, trying to pull it over, when it took the Exit 6 off-ramp. State Police decided the car was too far ahead and broke off the chase. The car struck Whitehead shortly thereafter.
The teen later appeared at the Bethlehem Police Station and reported an accident. An investigation led to his arrest by Albany police.
Eckardt-Rigberg was also handed a concurrent sentence of 2 to 6 years for leaving the scene of an accident and not reporting it to police.