Driver in fatal hit-and-run to get probation in plea deal

The driver in a hit-and-run accident that killed a 15-year-old Yuma boy earlier this year will receive probation instead of prison under the terms of a plea agreement.

Nathan Tom Bartley, 18, an Arizona Western College student and football player at the time, pleaded guilty Friday in Yuma County Superior Court to one count of attempted obstruction of criminal justice and one count of tampering with physical evidence. The plea agreement stipulates that he be sentenced to a term of probation.

In return for his guilty plea, a charge of failure to stop at the scene of an accident involving a fatality was dismissed.

Prosecutor Stephen Lundell explained why probation was favored over prison time. Lundell said that under Arizona sentencing guidelines, Bartley would probably not have been sentenced to prison on the crimes he was charged with due to his age and lack of criminal history.

Although the court appearance was in Yuma County Superior Court, the La Paz County Attorney's Office was handling the prosecution. Lundell said the case was transferred to his office due to a conflict of interest in the Yuma County Attorney's Office because a prosecutor's family members are witnesses in the case.

Bartley left the scene of the Jan. 13 accident after the vehicle he was driving struck Anthony Acosta, 15, who was riding his bike in the 2600 block of South Avenue 9E.

According to the Yuma Police Department's investigation, Acosta and another boy had been riding their bicycles in the area. As they crossed Avenue 9E, a northbound dark-colored vehicle driven by Bartley collided with one of the bicyclists.

The vehicle then continued northbound as it fled the scene. Acosta was transported to Yuma Regional Medical Center, where he died.

During the investigation, the suspect's vehicle was found by an AWC police officer in a college parking lot about an hour and a half after the incident.

Several witnesses were interviewed as part of YPD's investigation, including a man and two women who were passengers in Bartley's vehicle.

Bartley, who is from Waipahu, Hawaii, was a freshman at AWC and an offensive lineman for the Matador football team at the time of the accident.

Bartley's sentencing has been scheduled for 11 a.m. Oct. 28 before Yuma County Superior Court Judge John Nelson.

If Bartley violates the terms of his probation, which according to the plea agreement will be a term of supervised probation, he will be subject to a prison sentence ranging from five months to two years.

James Gilbert can be reached at jgilbert@yumasun.com.