Man Accused Of Leaving Fatal-Crash Scene Arrested
22-Year-Old Apprehended In Delaware

4-15-05
Indychannel.com

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- A man accused of leaving the scene of a two-vehicle crash that killed an Indiana University student was arrested Friday morning in Delaware, IU police said.


Praxedis

Meliton Espinosa Praxedis, 22, also known as Alberto DeJesus, was arrested in an apartment in New Castle County, Del., on a warrant charging him with leaving the scene of Monday's crash in Bloomington.

Police said Praxedis, who they said is an illegal alien, admitted that he was the driver of a station wagon involved in a crash that killed Ashley L. Crouse, 21, of Carmel.

Authorities said Praxedis ...had the right of way at the intersection of Third Street and Hawthorne Avenue when the station wagon crashed with a Jeep on Monday night.

Crouse, a passenger in the Jeep, was ejected and died early Tuesday at a Bloomington hospital. She wasn't wearing a seat belt, police said.

Moments before the crash, the Jeep was at a flashing red light and the station wagon was facing a flashing yellow light, police said.

Police said they believe Praxedis had been drinking alcohol before the crash and was speeding when the wreck happened. Accident reconstructionists still are investigating, RTV6's Tanya Spencer reported.


Ashley Crouse


The Jeep's driver and a second passenger were treated at a hospital and released.

On Thursday, IU police said they learned that the man they suspected of leaving the crash scene had boarded a bus bound for Delaware. Investigators initially had difficulty determining the man's real name, according to the IU Police Department's Keith Cash.

"We had numerous names on the person (and) numerous Social Security numbers, which made it difficult," Cash said.

Praxedis was being held in a Delaware jail on Friday, awaiting extradition to Indiana.


Source

related story