A Bethlehem man who police say was driving drunk has been charged in a hit-and-run crash in the city over the summer that critically injured a pedestrian.
Leroy Mendez, 37, was arrested in the July 19 crash on the unit block of East Fourth Street on the city’s South Side, police announced Tuesday in a news release. Police say around 1:30 that morning, Mendez’s vehicle crashed into a 24-year-old woman who had been standing next to a parked vehicle.
The woman suffered “severe and life-threatening injuries,” including a traumatic brain injury, a partial foot amputation and broken bones. She remains hospitalized and in a coma, police said.
The crash also damaged two other parked vehicles, including one that was occupied, according to police.
Police said they found Mendez’s damaged vehicle later that morning inside a garage behind his home. Vehicle parts recovered from the crash scene matched parts missing from the vehicle in the garage, and forensic testing “found biological evidence on the vehicle to be consistent with evidence located on the victim,” police said.
After police contacted Mendez, he said he had been out drinking at area bars to celebrate his birthday before driving. He showed signs of being impaired and failed a field sobriety test, according to police.
A blood test showed he had a blood alcohol concentration of 0.126%, well over the legal limit. In a later interview with police, Mendez admitted to being intoxicated, driving the vehicle and being involved in a crash, police said. He is also accused of filing an insurance claim with false information related to the crash.
Mendez was charged with multiple offenses, including aggravated assault, aggravated assault by vehicle while DUI, accidents involving death or personal injury, insurance fraud, driving under the influence of alcohol and recklessly endangering another person.
He was in Northampton County Prison as of Tuesday afternoon, with bail set at $250,000 police said.
https://www.mcall.com/2025/09/23/bethlehem-hit-and-run-crash-man-charged/
