GREEN BAY, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) – John Parnon was sentenced Monday to 45 days in jail for the hit-and-run crash that killed a pedestrian near the entrance to Green Bay Austin Straubel Airport nearly three years ago.
Parnon, 66, previously pleaded no contest to hit-and-run involving a death for the Oct. 5, 2020 crash which killed Eliot Cooper.
He was placed on probation for three years by Judge Marc Hammer. Parnon must also write an apology letter to Cooper’s family, and perform 480 hours of community service.
Before the sentence was issued, Parnon apologized to the Cooper family and reiterated he did not know at the time what happened.
Judge Hammer said the evidence supported Parnon’s version that he didn’t know he hit someone, but was at fault for not stopping.
According to the criminal complaint, police found a vehicle’s cowl seal at the scene. Using the information for the type of vehicle, officers checked casino security camera footage to track a suspect.
A citizen called police with information about the crash, saying Parnon said he hit something but wasn’t sure what it was.
Parnon denied being at the casino and denied talking to anyone about damage to his vehicle — but after being showed security camera footage, he admitted it was him, according to the complaint.
