INDEPENDENCE, Mo. -- Wilfredo J. Pujols, Jr. pleaded guilty Monday to several charges in connection with an Independence car chase that resulted in the death of a bicyclist.
Pujols was charged in November 2007 with second degree murder, resisting arrest, two counts of leaving the scene of an accident and driving while intoxicated. He pleaded guilty to the first 4 counts, and the driving while intoxicated charge was dismissed.
According to court documents, Pujols drove a vehicle that struck another car near Lee's Summit Road and 39th Street in Independence, Missouri. After the crash, Pujols' vehicle rammed the other car to move it out of the way, then fled the scene. Independence Police spotted his vehicle and pursued it on I-70 and then north on Noland Road.
During the pursuit, Pujols' vehicle ran a red light at Noland Road and Osage Road and struck a bicyclist in the intersection. The cyclist, 17-year-old Christopher Cooper, was seriously injuried and died later at an area hospital. Cooper was a junior at Truman High School in Independence.
The chase ended a short time later when Pujols' vehicle left the roadway and struck a tree. Pujols and the passenger in the vehicle, his brother, both fled on foot into a wooded area, but were soon caught by police.
Blood samples from Pujols were taken at a hospital and his blood alcohol content at the time of the crash was reported to be 0.97 percent. His brother was a passenger in the vehicle
Pujols faces a maximum of 20 years in prison for each of the 4 counts to which he pleaded guilty. He is scheduled to be sentenced in Jackson County Circuit Court on April 23, 2009.
Pujols is a cousin of St. Louis Cardinals first-baseman Albert Pujols.
