Police Release Surveillance Video Of Vehicle That Dragged 60-Year-Old Roberto Oquendo Velez Nearly 300 Feet In Deadly North Philadelphia Hit-And-Run
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- Police have released surveillance video of the vehicle involved in a hit-and-run that left a 60-year-old man dead in North Philadelphia. Police say Roberto Oquendo Velez was hit with such force that he was thrown from his shoes and dragged nearly 300 feet on the 3300 block of North 2nd Street.
Police say Oquendo was crossing the street at 2nd and Ontario Streets when he was struck by a dark blue 2001 to 2005 GMC Envoy or Yukon.
The vehicle fled the scene south on 2nd Street from Ontario Street and tracked as far south as Girard Avenue, investigators say.
The vehicle has a broken right headlight and fender damage.
Police responded to the scene just after 11 p.m. Wednesday, and when they arrived, they found Oquendo Velez badly injured in the street. He was eventually pronounced dead on the scene.
Police say the driver was speeding and hit Oquendo hard, despite speed humps on the road, and then left the scene.
"He was struck so hard his shoes flew off," Philadelphia Police Capt. Mark Overwise said.
The victim's family tells investigators that he lived just one block away from where the crash happened, and he lived there for 35 years.
"He was the nicest person you could possibly meet," said Brunilda Oquendo, the victim's sister. "He didn't deserve to die the way he died."
Oquendo's sister fears her brother didn't hear the car or a possible horn blaring as it barreled toward him.
"He was born deaf. He might hear like if you bounce on a wood floor but no, he didn't hear a horn like that," she said.
The accident remains under investigation. If you have any information on this incident, call police.
