Teen arrested in fatal Montco hit-and-run

Police have made an arrest in a hit-and-run that killed a man in Bridgeport earlier this month.

Cristian Fuentes, 18, was driving his mother's Ford Expedition near Ford and Rambo streets Dec. 5, according to the Montgomery County District Attorney's Office.

Shortly before 11:30 p.m., he allegedly mowed down 54-year-old Thomas Daley as Daley tried to cross Ford Street in or near the crosswalk, investigators said.

After the impact, Fuentes got out of the SUV and scanned Ford Street, then got back into the vehicle and drove away, according to authorities.

He did not attempt to render aid or notify police, prosecutors said.

Daley was struck by a second vehicle as he laid in the intersection, according to investigators. He died at Einstein Medical Center Montgomery.

Prosecutors said Fuentes, of Phoenixville, tried to cover up his involvement in the crash, telling his mother he struck a pole and going with her the next day to have a broken headlight repaired.

He was arraigned Friday on charges of accidents involving death or personal injury, tampering with physical evidence, failure to give information and render aid, failure to report an accident to police and failure to yield to a pedestrian in a crosswalk.

Fuentes was jailed in the Montgomery County Correctional Facility after being unable to post 10 percent of $250,000 bail.

A judge also ordered him to surrender his license and to refrain from driving and from using drugs or alcohol until the case is resolved, prosecutors said.

He is next due in court Dec. 30 for a preliminary hearing.

If convicted, he faces a mandatory minimum sentence of three years' incarceration for the accidents involving death charge, alone.

A state law enacted in June raised that penalty from one year to bring it in line with the three-year mandatory minimum for a conviction of homicide by vehicle while driving under the influence.

The law effectively closed a loophole under which intoxicated drivers could face less prison time if they fled the scene of a crash than if they stayed behind and were found to be impaired, prosecutors said.

Bridgeport police identified and spoke with the driver of the second car that allegedly hit Daley, according to a report from The Pottstown Mercury.

That driver reportedly told investigators he didn't see Daley on the ground and didn't realize he'd driven over someone.

Though no charges have yet been filed against the second driver, the investigation remains ongoing, the paper reports.