Fifth Avenue hit-and-run driver pleads guilty

Nearly one year after a Garfield man struck a Pitt graduate student with a stolen car, he… Nearly one year after a Garfield man struck a Pitt graduate student with a stolen car, he put up no fight when his victim confronted him in court.

Christopher Titus, 20, pleaded guilty to six charges on Thursday, including aggravated assault, receiving stolen property and two counts of reckless endangerment.

At about 9:30 p.m. on June 28, 2007, Jennifer Burroughs, now age 26, left her class at the Joseph M. Katz School of Business, heading home. Titus sped into the buses-only lane of Fifth Avenue before the silver Chrysler sedan he was driving crashed into the sidewalk, pinning Burroughs, The Pitt News reported.

Titus then fled the scene. Investigators deemed the car’s two passengers, brothers Marlon and Mason Duke, victims, according to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.

“I was pretty nervous about facing him for the first time [at the trial],” said Burroughs. “But I truly believe that he felt some remorse, and that made me feel better.”

Burroughs said that she endured a left wrist fracture, a broken shoulder blade and six broken ribs. Though her bones healed quickly, she still has difficulty moving her left wrist and arm.

In addition, Burroughs said she suffered burns on 26 percent of her body from hot automobile fluids. To repair the burns, doctors surgically transferred skin from her legs to her upper body.

She has been putting off the intensive physical therapy until her skin grafts heal. As a former long-distance runner, Burroughs has difficulty with her walking limitations.

“On the day of the trial, we parked six blocks away. I was able to do that, but that’s the farthest I’ve done,” she said. “I still walk with a limp.”

She plans to read a statement detailing her injuries as testimony for Titus’ sentencing. Common Pleas Judge Jill E. Rangos will sentence Titus on Aug. 21.

“June 28 is the one-year anniversary of the accident,” said Burroughs. “The time seems like it went by fast, but at the same time it seems like I’ve been hurt forever.”

Burroughs plans to return to Pitt to finish a master’s in business administration. She said she looks forward to going back to work at Pittsburgh Paints and Glass as soon as she has the strength to endure an eight-hour workday.