Thread: Witness: Man hit gas and woman

Witness: Man hit gas and woman
Suspect facing attempted homicide trial in 2000 incident.
Friday, September 21, 2007
By MICHAEL BUCK
The Express-Times

EASTON | An illegal Mexican immigrant accused of plowing his van into a group of people in June 2000 could face a jury trial on attempted homicide charges.

A district judge heard testimony Thursday outlining how Alberto Rodriguez Cruz ran over then 50-year-old Adeliada Colon after a scuffle outside the Latino Heat nightclub.

William Staples, who witnessed the crash, said there were about a dozen people in the middle of the road "pointing, yelling and screaming."

Staples said the van made a U-turn and crept up to the crowd of about a dozen people on the 400 block of Northampton Street before "hitting the gas." Staples said some people jumped out of the way, but Colon did not have time.

"She was right in front of the license plate," Staples said.

Colon's daughter, Awilda Gonzalez, said her mother was left bleeding in the street with broken bones, including both wrists and her right heel and left femur. Colon stayed in Lehigh Valley Hospital for a week, she said.

Gonzalez said Edwin Colon was also struck by Cruz but was not injured.

While recounting the crash, Gonzalez glared at Cruz, who sat silently. She said she had known Cruz for more than a year prior to the crash and her daughter's father worked with him.

Gonzalez said the van raced away and she did not see Cruz after that.

Cruz went on the lam for seven years until he was arrested by the U.S. Border Patrol in Mobile, Ala., during a May 7 traffic stop, an agency spokesman said.

Reporter Michael Buck can be reached at 610-258-7171 or by e-mail at mbuck@express-times.com

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YOU CAN RUN....BUT YOU CAN'T HIDE....WE WILL FIND YOU!!!!!!!