A British bloke, Thomas Robb, 22, is in a right pickle after allegedly using a dodgy passport to scarper back to the UK following a barmy crash in the US that left two kids injured. The incident went down in July 2022 in Rockland County, near the Big Apple, when Robb decided it was a smashing idea to drive a rented BMW the wrong way down a one-way street. He must have missed the memo on road signs, as he breezed past not one, but two ‘No Entry’ signs before plowing into a 2017 Chevrolet Cruze, which then careened into a 2021 Dodge Challenger.
The crash left two brothers, aged six and seven at the time, in a right state. The younger lad ended up with a bonkers head injury, while his older sibling spent a week laid up in the hospital. Their mum, Jacquelyn Pachay, who was behind the wheel of the Cruze, ended up with a wrist in tatters. And to top it off, at least four folks in the Dodge Challenger also got a piece of the action, according to the prosecutors. Robb, who was a mere 20 at the time of the incident, made a run for it with his brother and two cousins, apparently clueless about the chaos they had caused. He got collared shortly after but then pulled a vanishing act after being released on $25,000 bail, resulting in a warrant for his arrest. Word has it he pulled a fast one by using his twin brother’s passport to hightail it back to the UK. Quite the master of disguise, eh?
The Brit lad was finally nabbed in the UK almost two years later and shipped back to the US to face the music. He owned up to his shenanigans in January and is now staring down the barrel of a sentence next month. Not exactly the dream holiday he had in mind, I reckon. The Rockland District Attorney’s Office, in cahoots with the US Department of Justice, is gunning for a stint in the slammer for Robb. The lad made an appearance in court on January 15, where he copped to all 11 charges against him. The judge wasn’t feeling particularly charitable and chucked him in the Rockland County Jail without bail. The DA’s office wasted no time recommending a state prison sentence, making it crystal clear that fleeing the scene and dodging the law doesn’t fly in their neck of the woods.
The poor bloke’s family is keeping schtum on the whole debacle, but the locals have their ear to the ground and seem to have the lay of the land. One chap spilled the beans, saying the Robb clan is a well-known bunch round those parts, with plenty of mates rallying around them. As for Robb himself, he used to potter about as a landscape gardener before his world came crashing down. His extradition lawyer, Karen Todner, known for her knack in criminal defense and extradition cases, is keeping tight-lipped about the whole shebang at the behest of the Robb family. Not quite the hero in this tale, eh? The Pachay family, understandably miffed about the whole affair, branded Robb a ‘coward’ after his disappearing act in August 2022. Mrs. Pachay was none too pleased, feeling like Robb had a heart as cold as ice for not showing an ounce of remorse. The boys’ grandma spoke her mind as well, calling Robb out for being a coward and waving off his actions as a mere ‘mistake’. If only apologies grew on trees, eh?
Robb’s got a date with destiny in May for his sentencing. Not exactly a walk in the park, but then again, he did bring this all on himself, didn’t he?
