A driver accused of fatally hitting a man walking on an Alexandra, Virginia, sidewalk on Saturday night will remain in jail after his bond request was denied, authorities said.
Fredy Ortiz-Dominguez, 45, of Hyattsville, Maryland, has been charged with involuntary manslaughter in the crash that killed Roy Saravia, 46. Ortiz-Dominguez turned himself in Thursday after a warrant was issued, Alexandria police said.
Saravia was struck at about 8:10 p.m. in the 200 block of West Glebe Road, police said. He was pronounced dead at the scene. He had been heading home when the truck hit him, his family said.
Security camera footage obtained by News4 shows the moment the driver made a left turn, jumped the sidewalk, and hit Saravia, who then became trapped under the vehicle. The driver did not get out and instead rocked the truck back and forth for several minutes, the video shows.
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The tires spun so much they smoked and left burnt rubber on the sidewalk. It wasn’t until police arrived that the driver, later identified as Ortiz-Dominguez, stopped trying to drive, authorities said.
Ortiz-Dominguez was uninjured, police said. He wasn’t arrested after the crash.
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During Ortiz-Dominguez’s first court appearance Friday, a prosecutor said preliminary autopsy results indicate that Saravia would not have died when he was initially struck. It appeared it had been Ortiz-Dominguez rocking the truck that killed Saravia, he said.
Ortiz-Dominguez tried to free his vehicle for almost six minutes, the prosecutor said security video showed. At some point, a passerby banged on the truck’s driver window and demanded Ortiz stop pressing on the gas, the prosecutor said. Ortiz briefly got out of his vehicle but then got back in and started pushing on the accelerator again.
Ortiz-Dominguez’s lawyer asked the judge he be granted bond, arguing that he was not a flight risk risk because he’d lived in Hyattsville for more than two decades, had family in the area and had no prior criminal history. He said Ortiz “was not aware of what he had struck” and had been in a state of shock.
The judge rejected the request, saying the video showed Ortiz-Dominguez was attempting to flee.
Ortiz-Dominguez is being held without bail at the Alexandria Detention Center.
Saravia’s family told News4’s Julie Carey they were relieved the suspect will remain behind bars. They believe the driver’s actions likely caused Saravia’s death.
“If he would have just hit him and stopped and not moved, my dad would have been here,” Roy’s daughter said Monday. “With injuries, but he would have been here. What he did, that actually killed him.”
Saravia was a husband, father, and grandfather who would have celebrated his birthday on Tuesday. Instead, his family held a community vigil. They set up a fund for funeral expenses and to return Roy’s body to his native Honduras, where his mother still lives.
The investigation is ongoing. Anyone with information is asked to call police at 703-746-6178 or 703-746-4444.
