photo by: Kim Callahan/Journal-World

Lasean Dixon appears with her attorney, Jessica Glendening, Wednesday, July 16, 2025, in Douglas County District Court.

A woman who ran a red light, critically injuring a pedestrian and killing a dog, then fleeing, was found guilty Wednesday of leaving the scene of an injury accident and interference with law enforcement.

The woman, Lasean Rochelle Dixon, 36, pleaded no contest to the two felonies in a deal with the state. She had previously faced a third felony charge of aggravated battery.

Wednesday’s convictions are in connection with an incident just before 8 a.m. on March 18, 2024, at the intersection of East 23rd Street and Barker Avenue. Dixon ran a red light and struck a 74-year-old woman who was walking her dog. The woman suffered a broken leg and other injuries, and the dog died at the scene.

Dixon did not stay at the scene and initially lied to police about what had happened before owning up to her actions when it became clear that the incident had been caught on camera, according to prosecutor Adam Carey, who provided a factual basis for the plea, with which the defendant did not disagree. Carey further noted that Dixon said she had lied to police because she was “terrified” of going to prison.

Her lies, according to her arrest affidavit, included giving police a fake name, saying that someone else who had been speeding had been responsible, and providing false information about the location of her Dodge Avenger, which, when police found it, had a cracked and scuffed front bumper with a blood stain and dog hair on it and a damaged mirror consistent with it having struck something.

The plea deal anticipates a sentence of probation with the terms in the two counts to run concurrently, given Dixon’s relatively low criminal history score, but that hinges on the upcoming results of a pre-sentence investigation. Judge Amy Hanley warned Dixon that a higher criminal history score than anticipated could mean longer terms and possibly prison.

If her criminal history is what the parties believe it to be, Dixon faces presumptive probation between nine and 11 months for leaving the scene and six to eight months for interference with law enforcement.

Hanley also warned Dixon that the court could opt to run the terms consecutively. Sentencing has been set for Sept. 12.

The victim whose leg Dixon broke was in court Wednesday and appeared to walk with a slight limp. She has declined to discuss the case with the Journal-World, but, according to Dixon’s arrest affidavit, the woman told police at the hospital that she had been especially careful while crossing the street because she had almost been hit at that intersection before. She believed she was a couple of steps into the intersection when a car zoomed through and hit her.

The plea agreement read by Carey noted that Dixon will have to write a letter of apology to the woman and pay the cremation costs of the woman’s dog.