NEWPORT NEWS — A Newport News man who fell in a parking lot on Dec. 7 was fatally run over by a pickup — with the pickup’s driver now being investigated on a potential hit-and-run charge.
Rodger Arvin Peebles, 66, of Newport News, had fallen to the ground shortly before 9:30 a.m. in a parking lot of New Grove Baptist Church, behind a Wawa gas station at 14803 Warwick Blvd in Denbigh.
As he attempted to get up, he was struck by a a 2017 Chevrolet Silverado, according to a search warrant affidavit filed in Newport News Circuit Court.
“The Silverado did not stop and was last seen turning onto Beechmont Drive towards Warwick Boulevard,” said the affidavit by Master Police Officer A.T. Tutone Jr.
Peebles was taken to Riverside Regional Medical Center, where a doctor pronounced him dead at 10 p.m.
The pickup’s driver, a 37-year-old Chesterfield County man, is being investigated on a possible hit-and-run charge, the search warrant affidavit says.
The affidavit said Wawa surveillance cameras captured the gray Silverado in the parking lot, with the driver entering the store, using the restroom and buying a cup of coffee before returning to his vehicle.
The man drove to the back of the Wawa on the north side of the building, continued west through the parking lot and made a left into the church parking lot where Peebles had fallen.
After the Silverado left the parking lot, Flock surveillance cameras on Warwick Boulevard identified the the pickupbefore it merged onto Fort Eustis Boulevard heading toward Interstate 64, the affidavit said.
The affidavit said that when officers contacted the registered owner of the Silverado, he admitted to being at the Wawa at the time.
A list of items collected from the Silverado under the search warrant includes swabs of biological material from the rocker panels, side wheels and wheel wells.
“I miss my husband,” Peebles’ wife, Keisha Powell, posted Wednesday on Facebook. “We suppose to be drinking coffee together watching the morning news this morning like we did every morning before I start work.”
In a post on GoFundMe, Powell said Peebles was a die hard Pittsburgh Steelers fan and an Air Force veteran who served 22 years.
“My husband was a genuine person,” she wrote. “I had the pleasure of knowing him for 25 years and being his wife for 5 of those years. The last thing my husband said to me was, ‘You know I care about you and love you.’ That is because I let him watch his Steelers game in peace on (Dec. 7) and they won.”
No charges had been filed as of Tuesday afternoon.
“The investigation is ongoing, including scheduled interviews and review of video footage,” said Newport News Police spokeswoman Krystal Searcy.
Peter Dujardin, 757-897-2062, pdujardin@dailypress.com
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