Arrest Warrant Issued In Connection To Fatal Penn Hills Hit-And-Run
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) -- An arrest warrant has been issued in connection to a fatal hit-and-run in Penn Hills.
Allegheny County Police say detectives have acquired an arrest warrant for 21-year-old Modesty Hopper.
Fifty-one-year-old Joseph Morris, of Penn Hills, was struck by a vehicle and dragged for about half a mile as he was walking home from work on April 28. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
Police located the vehicle believed to be involved in the incident Friday after receiving a tip from an Uber driver.
Hopper is the registered owner of the vehicle.
Police say Hopper is facing charges of hindering apprehension or prosecution for her role in obstructing the ongoing investigation into the fatal hit-and-run.
At first, Hopper allegedly told Allegheny County detectives that her car was damaged by a fallen tree branch. Then she changed her story and said she was behind the wheel, and she hit a tree.
After Hopper gave her story, County Police showed her surveillance video taken outside the Hi View Gardens apartment building April 28.
Police said the video showed an unidentified man walking out of the building and getting into her car late in the afternoon. The same man, wearing a red hooded sweatshirt, returns the car about 10 p.m. that same night. She refused to identify him to detectives. She said his nickname was Bubish or Bub, and she explained she only had the guy's phone number.
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A criminal complaint of the text messages between the two the day after the fatal Penn Hills accident were revealing.
Hopper wrote, "You damn near owe me a whole new car, you smashed the hood up, busted the frame and everything."
The man only replied, "OK babe."
She then sent a text, "You really are ruining my life, and I'm starting to not like you at all."
His response: "I didn't do it on purpose."
She also messaged a different friend the day after the fatal mishap, writing, "Yeah, he just broke the windshield, he's getting it fixed today....he kept trying to say some dude was running and jumped on the car, like I'm [expletive] stupid."
Hopper's current whereabouts are unknown at this time.
A $13,000 reward is being offered for information leading to an arrest and prosecution in connection to this case. Police say the reward is for the arrest of the driver, not Hopper.
Anyone with information on the case is asked to call the Allegheny County Police at 1-833-225-8477.
