Brandon Spikes pleads guilty to hit-and-run charges, gets probation

Former New England Patriots linebacker Brandon Spikes pleaded guilty to charges related to a hit-and-run crash and was sentenced to a year of probation Wednesday.

Spikes pleaded guilty to negligent operation of a motor vehicle, leaving the scene of personal injury, operating an uninsured vehicle, speeding and a marked-lanes violation while appearing in Wrentham District Court in Massachusetts.

Spikes was cut by the Patriots after his 2011 Mercedes-Maybach was found abandoned in the median of Interstate 495 in Foxborough on the morning of June 7. Someone in the car, which had significant front-end damage, reported hitting a deer through the vehicle’s navigation system, police said.

A short time after the incident was reported, police responded to a hit-and-run call in the same area involving a Nissan Murano that had been rear-ended. Three passengers were transported to the hospital with minor injuries, police said.

Police later determined that Spikes was behind the wheel at the time of the crash.

Spikes has not spoken publicly about the incident.

Spikes played four seasons with the Patriots after being drafted by the team in 2010. He played with the Buffalo Bills last season before signing an incentive-heavy, one-year contract with New England in May.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.