A drunken motorist was arrested after he fatally mowed down a pedestrian and fled from the scene, only to be caught by police nearby, authorities said today.
Seth Johnson, 35, was driving a gray, 1998 Chrysler Town and Country minivan along East Fordham Road near Bathgate Avenue, in Mount Hope shortly before 4:20 a.m. when he struck Thomas Riley, 23, of The Bronx as Riley darted across the roadway to catch a cab, police said.
Johnson stopped and got out of the car, but when a witness tried to grab him, he jumped back behind the wheel of his car and sped away, police said.
The witness was able to provide police with a description of Johnson’s damaged vehicle, and he was stopped minutes later on the Cross Bronx Expressway service road near Third Avenue, police said.
Riley was pronounced dead on arrival at St. Barnabas Hospital.
Johnson was arrested and charged with vehicular manslaughter, driving while intoxicated and leaving the scene of an accident and criminally negligent homicide, cops said.
Additional reporting by Rebecca Harshbarger