NEWS

UNC-CH Police make arrest in hit-and-run pedestrian accident

CHAPEL HILL -- University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill police today (Feb. 4) arrested a Durham man in connection with a hit-and-run accident involving a pedestrian on campus.

Police charged Tony Tosh Jr., 37, of #5 Lakemont Circle, Durham, with felony hit and run while leaving the scene of an accident involving an injury, according to an arrest warrant.

"Mr. Tosh turned himself into police, accompanied by his attorney, after he was contacted yesterday afternoon and asked to report to my department for questioning," said UNC-CH Police Chief Derek Poarch. "Mr. Tosh was asked to submit to questioning after being developed as a suspect in this case by investigators following numerous leads aided by helfpul information we received from the university community."

In addition to the felony charge, Tosh also was cited for driving without a license, a warrant said. As of 5:30 p.m., Tosh was in custody and being transported to the Orange County magistrate’s office.

If convicted of the felony charge, Tosh could face imprisonment.

Sarah Katherine McCarty of Carrboro was injured at about 8:55 a.m. Wednesday after being struck by a white utility van while walking in a marked pedestrian crosswalk on Manning Drive near Morrison and Craige drives, according to UNC-CH police. She was treated at UNC Hospitals and released later that day.

Poarch emphasized that Tosh became a suspect based on eyewitness accounts when, after striking McCarty, he stopped his vehicle, got out, walked over and saw the victim and then left the scene. As required by law, Tosh failed to remain at the scene of an accident in which he was involved that resulted in an injury, Poarch said.

Since Jan. 10, UNC-CH police have issued more than 100 citations for speeding and failing to stop for pedestrians in crosswalks as part of a continuing crackdown in the wake of a fatal pedestrian accident involving a postdoctoral student on Manning Drive near the UNC-CH School of Dentistry last November.

In addition, Poarch has convened, at the request of Interim Chancellor William O. McCoy, a 14-member committee comprised of N.C. Department of Transportation officials, Town of Chapel Hill representatives and university students, faculty, staff and administrators. The panel began work in January and plans to work until it develops recommendations on how to reduce the dangers students, faculty, staff and visitors confront when walking the campus.

The committee first met in January and has another session scheduled Feb. 16. In between those regular monthly meetings, a technical sub-committee is meeting to craft specific recommendations for the full panel. The subgroup includes experts from the state transportation department, the town, the university’s transportation planner and the UNC Center for Highway Safety Research.

"Our department also will continue to be extremely vigilant about enforcement, prevention and education efforts currently under way with respect to pedestrian safety on campus," Poarch said.

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