Mount Pleasant man charged in 2020 hit-and-run
Ricardo Caruso
RACINE, Wis. - Ricardo Caruso, 64, of Mount Pleasant is charged with eight counts stemming from a 2020 hit-and-run in Racine.
Police were called to a bar near Main and Hubbard in Racine on Sept. 17, 2020, for a report of a woman lying unconscious on the curb.
Surveillance video from the bar showed the woman standing on the passenger side of an SUV. The SUV then began driving, with the woman holding onto the side of the vehicle before she fell and was subsequently run over.
The woman sustained broken bones in her pelvis, a broken vertebra and bruising and stitches to her midsection that required surgery.
A criminal complaint states that the woman and Caruso's son knew each other. The son had taken the woman's keys and money, and she followed him out of the bar to get it back. The complaint states that after a verbal altercation with the woman, Caruso and his son took off in the SUV -- dragging the woman and running her over. Caruso was behind the wheel.
Caruso is charged with:
- Hit and run -- great bodily harm
- Second-degree reckless injury
- Second-degree recklessly endangering safety
He also faces three misdemeanor counts of intimidation of a victim as a party to a crime, one count of negligent operation of a vehicle and one count of disorderly conduct.
According to court documents, Caruso's has a history of convictions dating back to 1976 in California. His most recent conviction was for disorderly conduct in Racine in 2015.
A preliminary hearing in the case is scheduled for Jan. 13.