Bloomington Police: 20-year-old man on electric scooter dies from fatal hit-and-run
UPDATE: The Monroe County Coroner’s Office identified the 20-year-old man as Nathaniel Stratton, of Miromar Lakes, Florida, on Sunday. Stratton was a student at Indiana University. An autopsy will be conducted on Sept, 20, in Terre Haute to confirm cause of death.
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. (WISH) — A man riding an electric scooter has died from a fatal hit-and run early Sunday morning, according to the Bloomington Police Department.
At 1:50 a.m. Sunday, Bloomington police responded to the intersection of North Walnut Street and 12th Street in reference to a crash with injury, police said.
According to police, several witness called 911 to report that the vehicle involved in the crash had fled the scene and was last seen traveling northbound on Walnut Street at a high rate of speed. Reports also say the suspect vehicle had struck a person riding an electric scooter, and the rider of the scooter was badly injured.
Officers arrived to the scene and located a 20-year-old man lying along the east edge of the roadway just north of the intersection.
According to police, an ambulance arrived shortly after and took the man to Indiana University Health Bloomington Hospital.
As officers were on the scene, an officer with the Indiana University Police Department located the suspect vehicle at the intersection of 19th Street and Lincoln Street.
Bloomington Police responded to that intersection and observed a black 2012 Mercedes-Benz passenger car with damage to the windshield. Officers also located a badly damaged scooter nearby.
According to police, a security officer that had been driving through the area advised officers that they had seen the passenger car driving northbound on Lincoln Street and it sounded as if the car was dragging something.
The security officer said that the car stopped at the intersection of 19th Street and Lincoln Street. A female got out of the driver’s side of the vehicle, and a man got out of the front passenger’s seat, police said.
The security officer heard individuals nearby tell the occupants of the vehicle that they were dragging an electric scooter under the car and bystanders helped the driver remove it just prior to police arriving on scene.
Madelyn Howard, 22, from Crown Point failed dexterity tests and was taken into custody. Howard was taken to IU Health Bloomington Hospital for a blood draw, then was taken to the Bloomington Police Department for further questioning.
According to police, Howard was taken to the Monroe County Jail pending charges of operating a vehicle while intoxicated and leaving the scene of an accident resulting in serious bodily injury.
At 6 a.m. Bloomington police were notified by the hospital that the man had died from injuries sustained in the crash.
Investigators were able to view security camera footage from a business located near the scene of the crash and the involved vehicle was seen driving by at the time of the crash with the passenger side tires up on the sidewalk on the east side of Walnut Street. Police say the vehicle was traveling at a high rate of speed and an individual on the sidewalk can be seen jumping into the grass to avoid being struck by the vehicle just prior to it striking the man on the electric scooter.
No further information has been released by police at this time.
