Police: Hit-and-Run Suspect Turns Himself In; Accident Victim Dies

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Image: Jose Pablo Hernandez Reyes (Leesburg Police Department)

The suspect in Monday evening’s hit-and-run accident in Leesburg turned himself in to the town police Wednesday evening, while the accident’s victim died shortly before midnight Tuesday, the police said.

The suspect, Jose Pablo Hernandez Reyes, 47, of no fixed address, was arrested at Leesburg police headquarters and charged with felony hit and run in the fatal accident on Plaza Street NE, the police said. He was ordered held on a $100,000 secured bond at the Loudoun County Adult Detention Center.

The accident victim, Fidel Antonio Cruz Villacorta, 57, of Leesburg, passed away at Inova Fairfax Hospital. The cause of his death will be determined in an autopsy, the police said.

The accident occurred at about 5:12 p.m. Monday as Cruz was crossing Plaza Street, the police said. Hernandez Reyes was driving south on Plaza Street in a 2007 Chevrolet Silverado pickup truck when he allegedly struck Cruz.

Cruz was seriously injured, and he was flown by helicopter to Inova Fairfax Hospital, off the Beltway in the Falls Church area.

Right after the collision, a witness followed the suspect’s pickup and took a photo of the truck’s license tag number, which aided the investigation of the crash, the police said. They found the truck Tuesday morning at a residence in Hamilton, a small town west of Leesburg, and impounded it to gather evidence.