Philadelphia

Hit-&-Run Driver Looks at Dead Victim After Slamming Into SEPTA Bus Shelter: Police

'The metal canopy as well as the victim were launched and traveled about 100 feet'

A driver crashed into a man standing at a SEPTA bus shelter, got out of his vehicle and looked at the victim before fleeing the scene and leaving the man to die as rain fell overnight, according to investigators.

The crash near the Roosevelt Mall at Cottman and Bustleton avenues in Northeast Philadelphia around 12:30 a.m. Tuesday launched the victim, later identified as 50-year-old Alejo Molina, and the bus shelter about 100 feet, said Philadelphia Police Chief Inspector Scott Small.

"The metal canopy was hit with such force that it was torn from its base, torn from the sidewalk," said Small. "The metal canopy as well as the victim were launched and traveled about 100 feet south."

Molina suffered from heavy trauma to his head, his body and his legs and medics pronounced him dead a short time later, said police.

"According to a witness, the driver of the vehicle, exited the car, walked over to where the victim's body was laying on the sidewalk, looked at the victim then fled on foot south on Bustleton Avenue, " said Small.

"He was hit hard, he was hit very hard." [[380617071, C]]

The wreck shattered the windshield of the Lexus and caused severe damage to one of the wheels leaving the vehicle inoperable, said police.

"We did find some blood on the driver air bag... we believe the operator of the vehicle sustained some injuries," said Small.

Police collected DNA from inside the vehicle, which wasn’t stolen, and tracked the car’s registration in hopes of tracking down the driver.

The suspected driver later turned himself into police Tuesday morning around 8 a.m., said police. The suspect -- identified by John Cook, 35, of Tackawanna Street -- was taken to the hospital to be treated. Officials said the man wasn't the owner of the car but confessed to driving it.

"He had a cut on top of the head," said Philadelphia Police Captain John Wilczynski. "From that cut he bled on his clothes and it was still on his clothes when he walked into police headquarters."

Cook faces involuntary manslaughter, leaving a deadly accident, and driving without a license charges.

Investigators believe speed played a role in the wreck along the 30-mph stretch of road.

Molina is survived by his wife of 13 years, Christie Silva, as well as a 20-year-old daughter and a 2-year-old son. Silva spoke to NBC10 about her husband's death.

"I'm in shock," she said. "It saddens me that somebody would hit my husband and just go. [He was] a hard worker. He was always there for our family. My family, his family, he was just an excellent, funny, outgoing man." 

Silva says her husband had worked the late shift at a warehouse and was awaiting a bus ride home when the deadly hit-and-run occurred.

"He was just there at the wrong time, unfortunately," Silva said."I appreciate [the suspect turning himself in]. But it doesn't bring my husband back."

Silva also had a message for her husband.

"Rest in peace baby," she said. "I love you."

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