Phoenix Hit-and-Run Penalties: Jail, Fines, and License Loss

Penalties for a Phoenix hit and run run from a Class 1 misdemeanor with up to six months in county jail for leaving a property-damage crash to a Class 2 felony with up to 12.5 years in prison, fines reaching $150,000, and a mandatory 10-year license revocation when a driver causes serious injury or death and flees. Where your case lands on that scale depends almost entirely on the worst outcome of the collision, not on how badly you drove.

How the Charge Is Classified

Arizona grades a hit and run by what the crash caused, then adds one more factor at the top end: whether you were at fault.

Property damage to another occupied vehicle, no injuries: Class 1 misdemeanor under ARS 28-662.¹
Injury that doesn’t rise to “serious physical injury” under Arizona law: Class 5 felony.²
Serious physical injury or death, and you did not cause the crash: Class 3 felony.²
Serious physical injury or death, and you did cause the crash: Class 2 felony.²

That last line catches people off guard. Two drivers can flee the same fatal crash, and the one who caused it faces roughly triple the minimum prison exposure of the one who didn’t.

Striking a parked vehicle and leaving without locating the owner or leaving a note is a separate Class 1 misdemeanor under ARS 28-664.³ Damaging a guardrail, sign, fence, mailbox, or similar fixture and failing to notify the owner is also a Class 1 misdemeanor under ARS 28-665.⁴

Prison, Jail, and Fines at Each Level

Misdemeanor (Property Damage Only)

A Class 1 misdemeanor conviction carries up to 180 days in county jail, a fine up to $2,500 plus surcharges, and up to three years of unsupervised probation.⁵ Judges have wide discretion and often lean toward probation and restitution for first offenders with no aggravating factors.

Class 5 Felony (Non-Serious Injury)

A first-time Class 5 felony carries a presumptive prison sentence of 1.5 years, with a range from 6 months mitigated to 2.5 years aggravated.⁶ Probation remains possible at this level, so some defendants avoid prison entirely when the injury was minor.

Class 3 Felony (Serious Injury or Death, Not at Fault)

Presumptive sentence of 3.5 years, ranging from 2 years mitigated to 8.75 years aggravated for a first offense.⁶ When the case is treated as a dangerous felony, probation is off the table and prison time becomes mandatory.

Class 2 Felony (Serious Injury or Death, At Fault)

Presumptive term of 5 years, reaching 12.5 years aggravated for a first offense.⁶ Prior felony convictions push these numbers substantially higher.

Fines and Restitution

Felony fines in Arizona can reach $150,000.⁷ Courts almost always add restitution on top, covering the victim’s medical bills, repair costs, and other losses. A hit-and-run sentence runs consecutively to any other sentence from the same incident, so if you’re convicted of causing the crash and of fleeing it, the prison terms stack rather than overlap.²

One related offense sits outside the hit-and-run statute itself and often gets charged alongside it: failing to render aid to an injured person is a Class 6 felony under ARS 28-663, independent of whether you also fled.⁸

License Revocation and MVD Points

The Arizona Department of Transportation Motor Vehicle Division imposes its own penalties on your driving privilege, and these apply whether or not the judge sends you to jail.

Death: mandatory 10-year revocation, not counting time incarcerated. After at least five years, a driver who has paid full restitution and committed no driving offenses during the revocation may apply for a restricted license.²
Serious physical injury: mandatory 5-year revocation, also excluding incarceration time.²
Non-serious injury: mandatory 3-year revocation.²
Property damage only: the court may order a 1-year suspension, but it is not mandatory.¹

If there is reasonable suspicion that alcohol or drugs contributed to the crash, MVD can require a substance-abuse screening before reinstating your license.¹ A conviction also adds six points to your driving record, which is enough to trigger an administrative review and potentially require completion of Traffic Survival School.⁹

Insurance and Civil Exposure After the Case

After reinstatement, Arizona typically requires drivers to file proof of future financial responsibility, commonly known as an SR-22 certificate, through their insurance carrier.¹⁰ The requirement lasts for a set period after your revocation ends, and not every insurer will write a policy for someone with a hit-and-run conviction. National data from 2026 shows drivers convicted of leaving the scene pay roughly double the average premium, about $2,000 more per year.

Civil liability runs on its own track. Victims can sue for medical expenses, lost wages, property damage, and pain and suffering. Your auto policy may cover some of that, but many insurers invoke intentional-act exclusions for hit and run, arguing the decision to flee was deliberate even if the crash was not. If coverage is denied, you pay the judgment personally.

The Knowledge Element

Hit and run is not a strict-liability offense. Prosecutors have to prove you knew, or reasonably should have known, that a collision occurred and chose not to stop. A driver who genuinely did not perceive any impact and had no reason to suspect contact has a real defense. Prosecutors typically build the knowledge element through visible damage on the defendant’s vehicle, witness statements, and surveillance footage. If the evidence shows you felt or saw the collision and kept going, that element is satisfied.

How Long You Can Be Charged

Under ARS 13-107, prosecutors have seven years from the date they discover (or should have discovered) a felony hit and run to file charges. For a misdemeanor hit and run involving only property damage, the window is one year.¹¹ The clock starts when law enforcement becomes aware of the offense, not when the crash happens, so a driver identified by surveillance footage months later can still be charged.

If You’ve Already Left the Scene

Phoenix investigators pull from traffic cameras, business and residential surveillance, dash cam video, and public tips, and a partial plate paired with a vehicle color and model is often enough to generate a suspect list. Coming forward voluntarily will not erase the criminal charge, but it tends to carry weight in plea negotiations and sentencing. A driver who calls 911 or turns themselves in within hours is treated differently than one brought in on a warrant months later. If you realize you’ve left the scene of an accident, contacting a criminal defense attorney before speaking to law enforcement is generally the safer sequence.

1
Arizona Legislature. Arizona Code 28-662 – Accidents Involving Damage to Vehicle
2
Arizona Legislature. Arizona Code 28-661 – Accidents Involving Death or Physical Injuries
3
Arizona Legislature. Arizona Code 28-664 – Duty on Striking Unattended Vehicle
4
Arizona Legislature. Arizona Code 28-665 – Striking Fixtures on a Highway
5
City of Phoenix. Misdemeanor Sentencing Guidelines
6
Arizona Legislature. Arizona Revised Statutes 13-702 – First Time Felony Offenders; Sentencing
7
Arizona Legislature. Arizona Revised Statutes 13-801 – Fines for Felonies
8
Arizona Legislature. Arizona Revised Statutes 28-663 – Duty to Give Information and Assistance
9
Arizona Department of Transportation. Points Assessment
10
Arizona Department of Transportation. Future Financial Responsibility (SR-22)
11
Arizona Legislature. Arizona Code 13-107 – Time Limitations