jhota
06-16-05, 12:17 PM
http://www.charleston.net/stories/?newsID=28777§ion=localnews
Van involved in hit-and-run fatality found burning in nearby ditch
BY JOHN CHAMBLISS
Of The Post and Courier Staff
Minutes after a van struck and killed a female bicyclist on Rivers Avenue early Wednesday, North Charleston police found the van in flames in a nearby ditch.
The driver, however, was nowhere in sight.
Leyda Jimenez, 35, of North Charleston, died at the scene from head trauma, said Judy Koelpin, Charleston County deputy coroner.
The burning van was found in a nearby ditch off Highland Terrace Drive.
Based on damage to the front of the van, police were able to determine that the burned van was the vehicle that struck Jimenez. Police are still searching for the driver.
Jimenez was riding her bike east on Rivers Avenue just south of Interstate 526 about 4 a.m. when she was struck by the eastbound van, said Spencer Pryor, a spokesman with the police department.
About 20 minutes later, police received a call about the van.
On Wednesday, police would not confirm that the van was intentionally set on fire.
The van was destroyed, but police were unable to find gasoline or any other accelerants, Pryor said.
It was the third hit-and-run fatality this year in North Charleston. Arrests were made in the other two.
UNDER INVESTIGATION
Anyone with information on the van or its driver can call North Charleston police at 554-5700 or Crime Stoppers at 554-1111.
this is only about four miles from where i work, and three from where i go to school.
Van involved in hit-and-run fatality found burning in nearby ditch
BY JOHN CHAMBLISS
Of The Post and Courier Staff
Minutes after a van struck and killed a female bicyclist on Rivers Avenue early Wednesday, North Charleston police found the van in flames in a nearby ditch.
The driver, however, was nowhere in sight.
Leyda Jimenez, 35, of North Charleston, died at the scene from head trauma, said Judy Koelpin, Charleston County deputy coroner.
The burning van was found in a nearby ditch off Highland Terrace Drive.
Based on damage to the front of the van, police were able to determine that the burned van was the vehicle that struck Jimenez. Police are still searching for the driver.
Jimenez was riding her bike east on Rivers Avenue just south of Interstate 526 about 4 a.m. when she was struck by the eastbound van, said Spencer Pryor, a spokesman with the police department.
About 20 minutes later, police received a call about the van.
On Wednesday, police would not confirm that the van was intentionally set on fire.
The van was destroyed, but police were unable to find gasoline or any other accelerants, Pryor said.
It was the third hit-and-run fatality this year in North Charleston. Arrests were made in the other two.
UNDER INVESTIGATION
Anyone with information on the van or its driver can call North Charleston police at 554-5700 or Crime Stoppers at 554-1111.
this is only about four miles from where i work, and three from where i go to school.