An Owings Mills man will not have to spend any more time in jail for fatally striking a 71-year-old pedestrian with a vehicle last year in Baltimore County and leaving the scene.

Baltimore County Circuit Judge Andrew Battista said at a Tuesday sentencing hearing that Mahmood Chaudhry made a poor decision when he hit Gerald Pettaway Sr. on Old Court Road near Bedford Avenue in Pikesville on Nov. 11, 2025, and failed to stop, call 911 and provide first aid.

But Battista said he did not see any benefit to society in further incarcerating Chaudhry, 66, citing his age, health conditions and contributions to the community. Chaudhry spent eight days in the Baltimore County Detention Center before being released on home detention.

Battista ordered Chaudhry to spend three years on probation and pay a $500 fine along with more than $1,500 in restitution for funeral expenses.

Advertise with us

“This behavior is awful,” Battista said. “But it’s the kind of thing that could happen to anybody.”

Chaudhry said he could not change what happened and apologized for his actions. He pleaded for mercy.

“Your honor, I stand before you deeply sorry and remorseful for my actions,” Chaudhry said. “I will never make this mistake again.”

Read more coverage about Baltimore County

Assistant State’s Attorney Felise Kelly pushed for an 18-month jail sentence, calling Chaudhry’s actions “just beyond the pale.”

Chaudhry’s attorney, Peter O’Neill, said his client should have stopped but panicked after he hit Pettaway, who crossed in the middle of the road at night. O’Neill said Chaudhry was not speeding, adding “without a shadow of a doubt, this was not his fault.”

Advertise with us

Chaudhry immigrated to the United States from Pakistan in 2003 and worked as a clerk at 7-Eleven, delivered pizzas for Domino’s and held other minimum-wage jobs to support his wife and four children, O’Neill said.

O’Neill said his client now owns and operates two 7-Eleven locations and called him “an American success story.”

“He is a good man,” O’Neill said. “He is a high-quality individual.” Incarceration, he added, would not make any sense.