A Canandaigua man defied a judge's order to write an apology letter to the boy he struck with his car

PITTSFORD — All they wanted was an apology. Instead, they got a guilty plea.

On Thursday, the Canandaigua man who hit a 10-year-old Pittsford boy on his bike, then defied the judge’s order to write the child an apology letter, accepted a deal that will have him doing community service.

Doug Lamb walked into Pittsford Town Court and agreed to plead guilty to a traffic infraction for hitting 10-year-old Julian Moore last September.

As he emerged from the court, he stopped short of apologizing.

“I feel bad that the circumstance had to occur and I’m glad that Julian is fine but it was just a very unfortunate circumstance and I feel bad about that,” said Lamb.

In September, Lamb was leaving Oak Hill Country Club in an SUV when he collided with Julian who was riding his bike on Kilbourn Road.

Lamb was charged with leaving the scene of an accident causing personal injury, a misdemeanor.

Initially, the judge agreed to adjourn and dismiss the case if Lamb wrote Julian an apology.

Instead, the boy got a letter blaming him for the accident.

It read:

“Dear Julian, I’m very sorry that you rode into the side of the car I was driving on Friday, September 7th. More importantly, I am glad you didn’t need to be treated by the attending ambulance on the day of the incident.

Wishing you a safe and happy holiday season.

Sincerely,

Doug Lamb”

“I don’t think anyone would sincerely believe that was an apology. It wasn’t,” said Daniel Strollo, assistant Monroe County district attorney.

Prosecutors asked to reopen the case, saying the letter was insufficient.

“Mr. Lamb was given one simple instruction ... when you don’t follow through on the terms of a commitment for a plea or disposition of a case, our office is not going to just ignore it, we’re going to reopen the case. That’s what we did here,” Strollo said.

Lamb’s attorney says his client is a decent man and worded his letter in a way that would avoid being untruthful because he didn’t feel he was at fault.

“He’s trying to make the case that he’s a good person and he didn’t do anything wrong, and good people make mistakes all the time. It’s not taking responsibility for those mistakes,” said Jennifer Moore, Julian’s mother.

Lamb was ordered to pay a $200 fine and is required to do eight hours of community service.