Drunk Driver Fined, Banned After Hit-and-Run Injures Police Sergeant

A BATSUB technician has been fined more than five thousand dollars and ordered to pay two thousand dollars in compensation after pleading guilty to multiple traffic offences stemming from a hit-and-run collision that injured a police sergeant and his common-law wife in Ladyville.  43-year-old Deniro Sutherland, appeared unrepresented today before the Belize City Magistrate’s Court, where he pleaded guilty to nine traffic offences arising from the incident, which occurred on Saturday, January 31, 2026, near Mile 8½ on the Philip Goldson Highway.  Sutherland admitted to driving while intoxicated, failing to stop and render aid, failing to report an accident, driving without a valid driver’s license, operating an unlicensed vehicle, and two counts of negligent wounding. The victims were Hilberto Ruiz, a police sergeant, and his female passenger Maria Tzul, who were travelling on a motorcycle at the time.  In outlining the sentence, the Chief Magistrate cited several aggravating factors, including that Sutherland was intoxicated, fled the scene after the collision, and had a recent history of similar traffic offences, having appeared before the court on related charges as recently as December 2025.  Although Sutherland told the court he was unaware he had struck anyone and requested time to secure a loan to pay the fines, the magistrate ordered that $5,040 in fines be paid forthwith, in default of imprisonment. He was also ordered to pay $1,000 each in compensation to the two victims and was disqualified from driving for one year.  Police reports indicate that officers responding to the scene later identified Sutherland after he drove into a nearby supermarket parking area, where officers noted the smell of alcohol and his inability to produce vehicle documentation.  Both victims sustained injuries but survived the incident.