A trail of motor oil led some eagle-eyed police officers to track down an SUV authorities say struck a man on a motorcycle in Philadelphia late Tuesday night before fleeing the scene and leaving the victim to die on the street.
The deadly incident unfolded shortly before 11:30 p.m. in the city's Juniata Park neighborhood, when police say a GMC Yukon SUV crashed into a 58-year-old man riding his motorcycle near Whitaker Avenue and Loudon Street. Chief Inspector Scott Small said the Yukon hit the man -- hard enough to make him fly out of his sneakers and throw him 10 yards -- then turn off Whitaker Avenue and take off.
The man was not wearing a helmet at the time of the crash and died of his injuries a short time later at Albert Einstein Medical Center, police said.
Officers who responded to the deadly crash found a cache of clues pointing to the suspect littering the street, including a GMC emblem that apparently broke off the SUV in the crash and a trail of leaked oil and antifreeze. The cops followed the oil and antifreeze trail, and it stretched about five blocks, to Rorer Street near Ruscomb. On that block, Small said, police found it: a badly damaged GMC Yukon sat parked, unattended, in a rear alley on the block.
The driver had apparently made slapstick attempt to hide the vehicle, but the evidence was clear, Small said.
Motor Oil Trail Leads Police to SUV Wanted in Deadly Philadelphia Hit-and-Run
Philadelphia police continued their search for a hit-and-run driver who killed a man on a motorcycle late Tuesday night at Whitaker and Loudon streets in Juniata Park.
