PERTH AMBOY, NJ—A Perth Amboy motorist was charged in connection with the hit and run death of 83-year-old pedestrian Percio Hernandez.
Hernandez, a resident of Perth Amboy, was pronounced dead on December 26 at Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital in New Brunswick.
The crash occurred on December 16, ten days earlier, and the charges were announced nearly a week later on December 23 after the driver turned himself in.
“An investigation by Detective Jessica DeJesus of the Perth Amboy Police Department and Detective Donald Heck of the Middlesex County Prosecutor’s Office [MCPO] determined that the driver, who was parked on Lawrie Street, backed his car onto Penn Street, hit the pedestrian, and fled,” read the official statement from the MCPO.Â
According to authorities, the driver was another city resident, 53-year-old Edwin Viera.
Viera “fled the scene after striking the victim as he was crossing on Penn Street,” according to the MCPO, who said he drove a 1998 Honda Civic.
Viera, who surrendered on December 22, was charged with leaving the scene of the accident and “obstruction” according to the MCPO.
Bail was set at $10,000, and Viera was released after posting bail the same day he was admitted to the Middlesex County Adult Correctional Center: December 23.
No new charges were filed after Hernandez passed away three days later, but “the investigation is active and is continuing,” says the MCPO.
Anyone with information is asked to call Detective DeJesus of the PAPD at (732) 442-4400, or Detective Heck of the MCPO at (732) 745-8842.
Charlie is the founder and editor of New Brunswick Today, and the winner of the Awbrey Award for Community-Oriented Local Journalism. He is a proud Rutgers University journalism graduate, a community organizer, and a former independent candidate for mayor of New Brunswick.
