Truck driver who hit, killed 19-year-old woman turns himself in

NEW CASTLE, Pa. — A Lawrence County truck driver who police said hit and killed a 19-year-old woman in Taylor Township and did not stop last June turned himself in Friday morning.

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Police said Robert Hodge, 47, was charged with homicide by vehicle, involuntary manslaughter and a number of other crimes. Officers said Hodge owns trucking company AG Central.

According to investigators, Hodge hit 19-year-old Alissa Jones shortly after 11 p.m. as she was getting out of her parked vehicle June 30 along Center Street in Taylor Township. Jones had been out with her sister and two kids. They all went inside, but Jones stepped back out to grab something out of the car when she was hit.

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Jones was hospitalized in an induced coma with internal bleeding before she died several days later.

According to a police criminal complaint, Hodge first told police he was not driving the truck that night. A few days later he changed his story, telling officers he was driving the truck with his 12-year-old as a passenger and didn’t recall hitting anything.

Jones’ family have been waiting seven months for charges to be filed for someone to be held accountable for her death.

Hodge did not go to jail. He is out on bond with a court hearing in March.

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