AUBURN - A driver who abandoned two injured passengers 500 yards from the car he crashed in Fleming was sentenced to 100 hours of community service and a conditional discharge in Cayuga County Court Tuesday.

Christopher Losani, 23, with a last known address of 5169 Route 34, Auburn, was sentenced for the misdemeanor crimes of reckless driving and leaving the scene of an accident.

“I understand I was in the wrong. There's no doubt about that,” Losani said.

Losani also said he never meant to harm his passengers despite his poor decision-making.

Losani lost control of his southbound 1995 Mitsubishi on a curve on Route 34 near Glanville Road around 4 a.m. June 21, 2004. The car struck a mailbox, turned on its roof, went airborne, struck an embankment and hit a utility pole. The car burst into flames after coming to rest in a field.

Losani did remove passengers Amanda Murray and Elizabeth Minturn from the car, but he left them in a field even though he lived only a half-mile down the road from the accident scene.

Back-seat passenger Minturn was not wearing a seat belt. She shattered her arm, suffered broken ribs, a broken nose and back injuries.

Minturn told Judge Mark Fandrich she underwent seven months of physical therapy and her family had to feed her and fix her hair because she couldn't touch her head.

“I trusted someone. I asked for help and it didn't happen,” Minturn said. But she said she is a stronger person after the accident and now she can deal with anything.

Murray was not present for the sentencing. The front-seat passenger suffered severe cuts.

Losani's “lack of acknowledgment concerns me,” said Assistant District Attorney Diane Adsit, who prosecuted the case.

Losani's attorney, Simon Moody, said the situation was a lesson for all young people about the dangers of partying and getting into vehicles.

Losani was originally arrested by state police on a driving while intoxicated charge, but the charge was not legally sustainable because his blood alcohol content was .05 when he was found by police four hours after the accident. He did not return home for a couple of hours.

Fandrich said he felt comfortable that Losani's actions were an aberration and that he would keep out of trouble in the future for the duration of the one-year conditional discharge for each victim and beyond.

“You and your passengers are very lucky to be alive and not be paralyzed,” Fandrich said.

Losani was originally indicted in December 2004 of second-degree assault, third-degree assault, leaving the scene of a serious physical injury crash without reporting it, using speed not reasonable or prudent, failure to maintain lane and failure to keep right.

Staff writer Amaris Elliott-Engel can be reached at 253-5311 ext. 282 or at amaris.elliot-engel@lee.net