MTV actor charged in fatal crash in New York

NEW YORK (AP) _ An actor who appeared in the MTV series ``Undressed'' has been charged with fatally striking a graduate student with his vehicle and then fleeing the scene. <br/><br/>Wole Parks,

Tuesday, January 24th 2006, 11:26 am

By: News On 6

NEW YORK (AP) _ An actor who appeared in the MTV series ``Undressed'' has been charged with fatally striking a graduate student with his vehicle and then fleeing the scene.

Wole Parks, who played Brett in the sixth season of the soap opera, pleaded not guilty Monday to charges of operating a motor vehicle while intoxicated, leaving the scene of an accident and third-degree aggravated, unlicensed operation, officials said.

The collision early Sunday killed 25-year-old Hannah Engle, a nonprofit management and Judaic studies student at New York University.

Parks, 23, had a previous drunk-driving conviction and a suspended license, said prosecutor Jonathan Eisenberg. An officer on the scene claimed he smelled alcohol on the driver's breath and that Parks had an open can that smelled of alcohol in the car, according to the criminal complaint.

The actor was ``in shock'' when he fled the crash, defense lawyer Marcia Seckler said at the Manhattan Criminal Court hearing.

He later turned himself in at a police precinct.