Montco man arrested in Telford hit-and-run

A 46-year-old Hatfield man has been arrested and charged in connection with the March 23d hit-and-run of a pedestrian in Telford, Towamencin Township, according to police officials.

Mukesh K. Shah, of the 100 block of West Vine Street, was taken into custody by police Friday March 25, and arraigned a day later in district court. He was being held on $50,000 cash bail at the Montgomery County prison.

Meanwhile, the female hit-and-run victim, identified as Esther Lee, 36, clings to life at a hospital, said District Attorney Risa Vetri Ferman. Police could not immediately find her address.

"The victim is still alive and receiving care in the hospital. While we remain hopeful that she will pull through, the reports so far are not promising," Ferman said by e-mail this afternoon.

Towamencin Township police said they received a report at 6:09 a.m. March 23, that a southbound vehicle on Forty Foot Road had hit a pedestrian between Detweiler Road and Towamencin Avenue.

The woman was immediately taken to Abington Memorial Hospital Trauma Center where she remains in critical condition with head injuries, police said.

Towamencin Township police and Montgomery detectives conducted a joint investigation and learned that Lee had been walking in the southbound right through-lane of Forty Foot Road wearing dark clothes when she was hit.

The impact caused damage to the front headlight and driver's side fender and mirror of the striking vehicle and was so forceful that it caused Lee's right sneaker to be thrown down Forty Foot Road, police said.

Witness Brian Yates was traveling the road at 5:50 a.m. and told police "it was dark, cold and had just started to rain lightly," according to an affidavit of probable cause.

Yates' son, Joshua, was driving a different vehicle than his father, the affidavit said. He told police there was a blue minivan behind him just after 6 a.m.

"Joshua Yates stated he observed the female walk into the lanes of travel behind him and into the headlight beams of the van," the affidavit said. "Joshua Yates stated he then noticed the driver's side headlight on the van was now out."

The van never stopped, and continued onto Sumneytown Pike. Yates told investigators the license plate number was GDY-0665.

Using that information, police traced Shah to his apartment building in Hatfield. His wife, Rashimi Shah told police her husband had said he hit "a Heren, which she indicated was a deer, on his way to work."

Shah told investigators he had seen police cars near "a child's toy" in the road that morning. Shah said the damage to the van occurred when he struck a tree in his church parking lot the week of March 7.

Based on evidence collected at the accident scene, police charged Shah with causing an accident involving serious injury or death, lying to authorities, reckless endangerment, and failure to stop and render aid following an accident.

The March 23 incident followed another Montgomery County hit-and-run death on Feb. 3. Michelle Powell, 53, a manager at the Wal-Mart in Cedarbrook Mall Shopping Center, was hit on Cheltenham Avenue as she left work.

George Humphrey, 24, of North Philadelphia, was arrested on vehicular homicide and related charges in Powell's death. He faces arraignment next month in Montgomery County Court.