A Philly driver ran over a skateboarder in Bucks County and tried to report the vehicle stolen, police say
Tajair Delbridge lied to the owner of the vehicle he was driving on the night of the crash, prosecutors said, telling her that the car had been stolen by armed carjackers.
A Frankford man who prosecutors say ran over a skateboarder in Bucks County pleaded the Fifth Amendment, declining to answer even basic questions, before a grand jury after pressuring the owner of the car he drove during the hit-and-run to falsely report the vehicle stolen, according to court filings.
Tajair Delbridge, 25, surrendered to police on Friday and was charged with accidents involving death, tampering with evidence, hindering prosecution, and related crimes in connection with the death of Joel Moreau in a crash on Nov. 24 in Bristol Township, officials said.
Moreau, 28, was riding his skateboard on Haines Road about 10:16 p.m. when he was struck by a red Kia K5 that Delbridge was driving, according to the grand jury’s presentment in the case. Eyewitnesses testified that Delbridge turned around after the crash to view the scene, but ultimately sped away without checking on Moreau.
Delbridge’s attorney, Eugene Tinari, did not return a request for comment Tuesday. Delbridge remained in custody Tuesday on $200,000 bail.
Moreau was pronounced dead at the scene by medics.
Those eyewitnesses saw Delbridge turn down a nearby road, and helped lead police to the K5 abandoned outside of a home a few miles from the crash scene, according to court filings. The vehicle had sustained significant front-end damage.
As police worked to determine the driver’s identity, they heard from the Kia’s owner, who told detectives she had tracked the car to the Bristol Township Police impound lot through a GPS she had installed in the car. The woman explained that a friend owns a private rental car business and had been renting the vehicle out for her to earn extra money.
When the women were informed that the Kia had been involved in an accident, they immediately identified Delbridge as the person who last rented it.
The women told police that Delbridge contacted them less than an hour after the crash, saying they needed to report the vehicle stolen. Delbridge told them he had been carjacked by three armed men after pulling over on the side of the Pennsylvania Turnpike.
Surveillance footage from a business close to the crash scene recorded Delbridge and a female passenger pulling into a parking lot after the crash and examining the damage to the car, the presentment said.
In grand jury testimony, that woman admitted that she was riding in the car with Delbridge that night, and that she had witnessed the crash, which caused injuries to her head. She said she did not realize at the time that Delbridge had hit a person.
Delbridge, in his own testimony, declined to answer any of the prosecutors’ questions, including what his phone number was or whether he knew the woman who had been in the car with him that evening.
He is scheduled to appear before Magisterial District Judge Kevin Wagner for a preliminary hearing on June 4.