Man charged in DUI crash that killed a Port Richmond woman had open bench warrant
The suspect has violated probation at least 10 times and was wanted on a bench warrant, according to police and court records.
Ryan McHugh had every chance in the world to get help — records show he was court-ordered or listed in treatment at least seven times in the last 16 years. But despite all the assistance he was offered to turn his life around, McHugh's apparent substance abuse ended up claiming a young woman's life last weekend, according to police.
McHugh, 39, was charged Sunday with homicide by vehicle while driving under the influence of intoxicants, involuntary manslaughter, and related offenses for getting behind the wheel of a 2003 Dodge Durango while intoxicated and jumping a curb on Aramingo Avenue near Tioga Street in Port Richmond around 8:45 p.m. Saturday, killing Rosa Lydia Rojas, police said. He is being held on $500,000 bail.
Rojas, 28, was walking home from getting something to eat with her two children, according to police and relatives.
She pushed her 9-year-old daughter, Leani, to safety and protected her 7-year-old son, Jaidyn, from the brunt of the impact, although the boy suffered a broken leg and other injuries. He remained Monday at St. Christopher's Hospital for Children, according to police and Rojas' older sister, Vanessa Belen.
"I'm not even surprised she gave her life for her kids," said Belen, 31. "She lived for her kids. Everything she did was for her kids."
Police said Rojas became trapped under McHugh's car after he hit her and then a light pole. As McHugh backed his vehicle off the sidewalk into the street, Rojas was ejected from under the left side of the car, police said. She was pronounced dead at Hahnemann University Hospital at 9:19 p.m.
McHugh suffered only minor injuries, according to police.
Rojas was the youngest of four siblings. Belen said her sister was a caring single mother with a great sense of humor who worked as a medical assistant at a podiatrist's office.
When Belen heard that her sister was struck by a car, she rushed to the hospital.
"I was scared, I was worried, but I didn't expect the worst. I didn't think I was going to hear that I lost my sister forever," she said. "I have a broken heart. I lost my best friend. I lost my sister. I lost a big part of me."
According to court records and police, McHugh — who has violated probation at least 10 times — was wanted on a bench warrant for not showing up at a February hearing in Common Pleas Court in a 2014 case in which he was charged with accidents involving death or personal injury, reckless driving, and recklessly endangering another person.
The case has been delayed several times for reasons including that McHugh was in a hospital, that he was receiving medical treatment, and that he was in a rehabilitation facility, according to court records. In January, he was listed as absent from a court date because he was "in treatment." When he did not appear for a February status hearing, the bench warrant was issued, police said.
Cameron Kline, a spokesman for the Philadelphia District Attorney's Office, said prosecutors would seek to revoke McHugh's $50,000 bail in the 2014 case. Kline said he did not know the details of the 2014 allegations. McHugh's lawyer in the 2014 case, Timothy Tarpey, declined to comment.
This weekend's was the latest in a long history of arrests for McHugh, who has been found guilty of theft at least nine times and of possessing a controlled substance at least three times since 2000, according to court records. He has violated the terms of his probation on his cases at least 10 times, and has been listed in or sentenced to drug and alcohol treatment facilities, including Eagleville Hospital in Montgomery County and Conewago Place in Berks County, at least seven times, court records show.
In 2013, McHugh was denied early release because he had "absconded and walked away from treatment," according to court documents.