E. Frankford man held for trial in hit-and-run death of man at bus shelter
An East Frankford man was ordered Tuesday to stand trial in an early-morning May 24 hit-and-run crash that killed a man waiting at a Bustleton Avenue bus shelter in the Northeast.
An East Frankford man was ordered Tuesday to stand trial in an early-morning May 24 hit-and-run crash that killed a man waiting at a Bustleton Avenue bus shelter in the Northeast.
John Cook, 35, was held on charges of homicide by motor vehicle, involuntary manslaughter, driving with a suspended license, and leaving the scene of an accident after a preliminary hearing before Philadelphia Municipal Court Judge James M. DeLeon.
According to Assistant District Attorney Thomas Lipscomb, Alejo Molina, 50, was sheltering from a downpour in the bus shelter on the southbound side of Bustleton at 12:46 a.m. on May 24, just south of Cottman Avenue, where Bustleton curves to the left, when a car plowed into the shelter.
Police Officer James Strohm of the accident investigation unit testified that the impact destroyed the shelter and threw Molina 118 feet. Molina was dead at the scene.
Strohm said the remains of the car, a black 2003 Lexus E300 sedan with heavy front-end damage, went a further 213 feet south until stopping partly in one northbound lane. When police arrived, no driver was inside or nearby.
Another accident investigator, Officer William Lackman, said his preliminary estimate is that the Lexus had to have been traveling at least 31 mph - more likely 40 to 60 mph - to have caused that level of damage. Bustleton's speed limit is 30 mph in that area, Lackman said.
Officer Angela McDonald, who staffs the front desk at Police Headquarters, said Cook approached the desk at 7:30 a.m. the same day and said he wanted to surrender.
"He said he hit someone and someone told him the person was dead and he wanted to turn himself in," McDonald testified.
McDonald said Cook said he did not leave the scene of the accident, but added that he appeared dazed and had blood on his white T-shirt.
Defense attorney Robert M. Gamburg asked DeLeon to dismiss the homicide and manslaughter charges, arguing that there was no evidence Cook exhibited the gross negligence needed to sustain those counts.
"Sometimes an accident simply is an accident and there is no criminality involved," Gamburg added.
Lipscomb said "the notion there was no gross negligence involved is nothing short of absurd. . . . It defies logic that he didn't think he hurt anybody."
DeLeon ordered Cook held on all charges, citing his suspended license, that he left the scene, and that "there is no rational reason you couldn't navigate that curve."
DeLeon agreed to reduce Cook's bail from $200,000 to $25,000 but warned him that he was not permitted to drive if he made bail.
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