ALLENTOWN, Pa. — An Allentown man who died in a hit-and-run crash in November held on for his life as a delivery driver swerved and braked in an attempt to throw him from the van’s hood, authorities said.
Police said they used license plate readers and video footage to aid in their investigation of the killing of 29-year-old Rigiberto Hernandez Arias.
Arias died Nov. 21 at Emaus Avenue and South Fourth Street after getting out of his SUV and confronting the delivery driver, 30-year-old Troy Johnson of West Philadelphia, according to recently unsealed court records.
Police said Johnson ran over Hernandez and fled after swerving and braking four times in attempts to throw him from the hood.
Troy Johnson, 30, was arrested in Philadelphia on Dec. 17. He was arraigned on $500,000 bail and sent to Lehigh County Jail. A preliminary hearing is set for Jan. 30.
Johnson was arrested in Philadelphia almost a month later, on Dec. 17, by the U.S. Marshals Service and Allentown police.
He was arraigned on $500,000 bail and sent to Lehigh County Jail. A preliminary hearing is set for Jan. 30.
Suspect gave statement to employer, cops say
Hernandez was a father of three, according toa GoFundMe organized by his employer, East Coast Facilities Inc.
Police found him in a pool of blood in the middle of the 2400 block of South Fourth Street.
Johnson is charged with third-degree murder, accidents involving death or personal injury, involuntary manslaughter and recklessly endangering another person.
After the hit-and-run that night, police said, Johnson returned his work van to the Amazon sorting center in Montgomery County with a broken windshield.
Johnson provided a written statement to Amazon about how the damage occurred, according to police.
He wrote that he cut off a male driver in Allentown and that driver followed him to Emaus Avenue and South Fourth Street.
He said the other driver got out of his vehicle and began recording with his cellphone, then jumped on the hood of the delivery van, police said.
He also wrote that he began to drive, stepped on the brakes and swerved around the victim after he fell off. Witnesses told police the van ran over the victim, according to court records.
Blood, damage allegedly found on van
Police said Hernandez held on to the van as it traveled over 1,100 feet, or one-fifth of a mile. An examination of the vehicle allegedly found its muffler tip crushed and blood on the undercarriage and rear wheel well.
Detectives said they also found handprints on the edge of the hood where Hernandez "held on for his life."
Lehigh County Coroner Daniel Bugliosaid Hernandez was run over and died of blunt force injuries. Buglio ruled the manner of death homicide.
Investigators asked that an arrest warrant on the charges be sealed for 60 days so as not to alert targets to the existence of the investigation.
“There is, accordingly, reason to believe that notification of the existence of this arrest warrant will seriously jeopardize the investigation, including by giving targets an opportunity to flee since he resides in another county not local to (investigators),” investigators said.
“Furthermore, it will aid in the prevention of intimidate (sic) potential witnesses/cooperating parties.”
