Man arrested in hit-and-run death of e-bike rider in South Jersey
Thair Maroki, 40, of El Cajon, Calif., has been charged in the death of Anthony Caprio III.
Police in Burlington County have arrested a California man in the hit-and-run death of a man who was riding an e-bike on Route 73 in Mount Laurel earlier this week.
Thair Maroki, 40, of El Cajon, Calif., has been charged with second-degree vehicular homicide and leaving the scene of a fatal accident, the Burlington County Prosecutor’s Office said.
Maroki’s arrest comes days after the death of Anthony Caprio III, who was killed Monday. Mount Laurel Township police were dispatched to the 1100 block of Route 73 southbound just after 12:15 a.m. Monday to respond to a crash involving an e-bike and an unknown vehicle, and pronounced Caprio, 49, of Magnolia, dead at the scene.
Michele Caprio, 71, Anthony’s mother, told The Inquirer that her son had taken his e-bike to a Wawa on Sunday night from her house in Mount Laurel. Around 3 a.m. Monday, police arrived at her home to inform her of the crash and Caprio’s death, she said.
Sgt. Kyle Gardner said the e-bike was equipped with lights, which were on at the time of the crash. The vehicle driver dragged Caprio at least a quarter-mile and then continued south on Route 73 into Evesham Township, Gardner said.
Investigators used surveillance footage from businesses in the area, as well as the New Jersey Turnpike Authority, to identify the vehicle that allegedly struck Caprio as a white 2022 Jeep Cherokee with California plates. Following a law enforcement alert for the vehicle, officers in the Lyndhurst Police Department in Bergen County located it Thursday and took Maroki into custody, authorities said.
Maroki was slated to appear in court Friday in Mount Holly. No attorney information for him was immediately available.