CHESTERVILLE – State police have charged a Wilton man in relation to the September hit-and-run case that involved a Chesterville resident. Local area residents banded together to buy the man a new bicycle.
According to Trooper Reid Bond, state police began investigating on Sept. 23, after a hit and run was reported on the Zions Hill Road in Chesterville. The initial report indicated that a bicyclist had been struck with the involved vehicle, a pickup truck, allegedly fleeing the scene.
The bicyclist was David Tilton, a resident of Zions Hill Road who often rides his three-wheeled bike to pick up road-side bottles and cans. Trooper Jason Wing of Troop B responded, determining that Tilton was wearing a high visibility vest and had an orange high visibility triangle affixed to his bike at the time of the crash. His bicycle had been on the right shoulder of the roadway when he was struck. Tilton was transported to Franklin Memorial Hospital with minor injuries sustained in the crash and his bike was totaled.
Local area residents, Norman and Carroll Corbin, helped orchestrate getting Tilton a new bike. A basket was also donated, and there’s been an effort to make Tilton a cart.
Wing spoke with another motor vehicle operator that witnessed the incident and a volunteer firefighter, both of whom were able to describe the truck that allegedly hit Tilton’s bike.
“A motorist behind the truck described turning onto Zions Hill Rd. from Rte. 156,” Bond said in his report. “The truck suddenly accelerating leaving behind it a roadway of black smoke. Once the smoke cleared the motorist found the biker had been struck and immediately called 911.”
The firefighter, while responding to the scene, reported seeing a pickup truck “operating recklessly” while moving away from the scene. A piece of the truck was found at the scene and Wing was able to use it to determine a range of possible model years. A BOLO – or Be On the Lookout – was issued to law enforcement across three counties.
Over the ensuing weeks, Wing continued to investigate, checking dozens of locations for the truck. He eventually went to Bond, an investigator at Troop C, who began checking additional locations. On Nov. 7, Bond said, he located the suspected truck at a residence in Wilton.
The vehicle’s owner, Nate McHugh, 30 of Wilton, provided what Bond described as “conflicting accounts” of his whereabouts and actions on Sept. 23. Bond said that McHugh eventually admitted to striking something but said that he thought it had been trash and thus had left the scene.
After consulting with Wing and the District Attorney’s Office, Bond charged McHugh with leaving the scene of a personal injury crash and failing to report a crash, both misdemeanors for which the Wilton man was issued summonses. Once the troopers’ reports are compiled, Bond said, they would be submitted to the District Attorney’s Office to review for additional charges.
I would think that Mr. McHugh might want to get his eyes checked if he can not tell the difference between “trash” and some one on a 3 wheel bike riding along the side of the road. Thank God Mr. Tilton wasn’t killed. Thanks to everyone in the community for helping the state troopers find this man.
Good police work. Thank you.
Nice job Norman and Carroll Corbin..
If he can’t tell the difference between someone riding a bike and trash. They should take his drives license. He should pay for the bike
Hard to believe that this is only a misdemeanor.
Accidents do happen, but David wears all that high-visibility clothing. Hard to believe it wasn’t malicious. Just glad Dave is ok, and he got a new bike!
Thank you to all police departments / officers involved in the continued search for the wrong doer and finding him.
Nice job to all law enforcement. Nail this guy to the wall. If you can’t see a bike, trailer and person, a child would not stand a chance.