The family of a man killed by a hit-and-run driver has been awarded $2.7 million by a Denver jury.
The family of Michael Snyder, who was killed in April of 2014, filed a wrongful death suit against William Pettapiece, the driver who hit Snyder.
Pettapiece was sentenced to a 12-year prison sentence in November after pleading guilty in a , which included a DUI charge.
Snyder, a 23-year-old airman at Buckley Air Force Base at the time of his death, was driving a motorcycle on East Alameda Avenue when he was struck from behind by Pettapiece.
The jury award includes $800,000 in punitive damages, according to a media release from Bachus & Schanker, the law firm representing the Snyders.
“There is no winner here,” Stacy Snyder, Michael’s father, said in the release. “We will all have to live with this for the rest of our lives. We felt like the jury did a good job, and hope that this will deter others from” from drinking and driving.
Kieran Nicholson: 303-954-1822, knicholson@denverpost.com or @kierannicholson
