A Fairdale man who struck a 3-year-old girl with his pickup truck last year and drove off has been sentenced to five years of probation rather than prison time. Paul Taube pleaded guilty to leaving the scene of an accident and tampering with physical evidence after hiding his truck and stripping it of identifying features in the hours following the crash.
The incident happened April 17, 2025, in the 10000 block of Manslick Road in Fairdale, according to WLKY. The crash took place near the Regency Park Apartments, a low-income housing complex at 10407 West Manslick Road, according to WHAS-TV. Video footage obtained by the station showed the girl running into the street toward a park and freezing in place as Taube's pickup approached.
Driver Says He Thought He Hit a Speed Bump
According to WLKY, Taube told police he believed he had driven over a speed bump and did not realize he had struck a child. He drove off after people began screaming and hitting his truck, per the same report, and only learned later that a girl had been injured.
The child suffered a severe arm injury that required surgery, according to court records reported by WHAS-TV. Emergency responders treated her at the scene before she was taken for treatment.
Truck Hidden, Plate and Decal Removed
After learning of the incident on social media, Taube hid his truck behind his garage, discarded its license plate, and removed a distinctive window decal in an apparent effort to avoid identification, court documents cited by the station's report indicate. He turned himself in to police on April 18, 2025, the day after the crash.
Taube was arraigned in Jefferson District Court on April 19, 2025, where a judge set his bond at $500, and he was released shortly after posting it, per the earlier account. More than a year later, he was sentenced to five years of probation. If he violates the terms of that probation, he could face up to four years in prison, according to WLKY.
Why the Charges Became Felonies
Both offenses Taube admitted to are Class D felonies under Kentucky law. Leaving the scene of an accident involving physical injury is elevated from a Class A misdemeanor to a Class D felony under KRS 189.580, according to Hoffman Walker & Knauf, since state law requires drivers to render aid and notify authorities when injuries occur. Tampering with physical evidence carries the same felony classification under KRS 524.100, punishable by one to five years in prison and fines between $1,000 and $10,000, per Larmour Law Offices.
Kentucky law also directs judges to weigh probation or alternative supervision for non-violent Class D felony convictions before ordering imprisonment, per the same source, which helps explain why a probated sentence — rather than prison — fell within statutory guidelines for Taube's case.
A Broader Pattern of Pedestrian Risk
Statewide data published by the Kentucky Transportation Center in 2024 found that pedestrians made up 37.8% of all people killed in hit-and-run collisions across Kentucky in 2023, according to the Dickman Law Office, with pedestrian crashes accounting for 125 deaths statewide that year. More recently, legal analysis from The Schafer Law Office found that pedestrian traffic fatalities in Louisville rose 26% year-over-year in 2025, a trend cited alongside the city's ongoing Vision Zero Louisville safety initiatives targeting high-risk crash corridors.
No additional details about further legal proceedings or appeals have been reported.
