WILMINGTON, NC : Suspect in deadly Oleander Dr. hit-and-run makes first appearance on Tuesday, January 23rd 2017
Wilmington, North Carolina
A Wilmington man charged in a deadly hit-and-run on Oleander Drive last week made his first court appearance in New Hanover County Tuesday afternoon.Joshua Krag Roydes, 29, of Wilmington, was struck and killed in the 5400 block of Oleander Drive, near the Hops Supply Co., last Friday morning. Witnesses alerted police around 7:15 a.m. after they spotted Roydes' body lying on the side of the road.
Later that morning, officials with the Wilmington Police Department issued a news release and said they were looking for a white work van without a ladder in connection to the fatal hit-and-run.
Hernan Flores-Contreras, 57, eventually surrendered to authorities Friday afternoon and was charged with misdemeanor death by motor vehicle, felony hit-and-run, and failure to maintain lane control. Police said speed and alcohol didn't appear to be factors in the collision.
He was booked into the New Hanover Jail under a $50,000 unsecured bond and later released.
During Tuesday's court appearance, prosecutors said Flores-Contreras told police he was driving to work Friday morning and fell asleep prior to the deadly accident. Flores-Contreras said he came to after the collision, but his attorney claims Flores-Contreras thought he hit a mailbox.
He went home to switch cars due to the damage, but as he was driving back to work, he passed by the scene of the accident and knew something was wrong.
Flores-Contreras said he called his minister, then an attorney, and surrendered to police.
Prosecutors asked the judge to give Flores-Contreras a $50,000 secured bond because he left the scene, but also conceded that he has been cooperative in the investigation and has shown much remorse.
The judge, citing no prior record and that he turned himself in, gave Flores-Contreras a $15,000 secured bond.
Prosecutors also revealed that he is not a U.S. citizen.
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Suspect in deadly Oleander Dr. hit-and-run makes first appearance