Charges filed in fatal East St. Louis hit-and-run accident

An East St. Louis man was arrested and charged after an alleged hit-and-run accident that took the life of a 59-year-old man on his bicycle.

An East St. Louis man was arrested and charged after an alleged hit-and-run accident that took the life of a 59-year-old man on his bicycle.

An East St. Louis man was charged with failing to report a hit-and-run accident that resulted in the death of a 59-year-old man on his bicycle.

St. Clair County State’s Attorney James Gomric’s office announced multiple felony charges related to the incident against Brion C. Earts, 28. They include failure to report an accident involving a death, reckless homicide and aggravated fleeing or attempting to elude a police officer.

Freddie Perry was riding his bicycle near 19th and State streets at about 2:17 a.m. on Aug. 24, when police said, he was struck by a silver-colored vehicle traveling at a high rate of speed.

A responding East St. Louis police officer spotted a silver-colored vehicle with Illinois plates heading west away from the scene, Assistant Chief Ranodore Foggs said the day after the crash. The vehicle had damage to its front end and windshield, he said. The officer attempted to stop the vehicle, but it sped across the Poplar Street Bridge into Missouri, said Foggs.

St. Clair County Coroner Calvin Dye Sr. said Perry was pronounced dead at the scene.

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Carolyn P. Smith has worked for the Belleville News-Democrat since 2000 and currently covers breaking news in the metro-east. She graduated from the Journalism School at the University of Missouri at Columbia and says news is in her DNA.
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