Pedestrian Killed Sunday Afternoon in Handy Street Hit-and-Run

A South River man has been charged with the alleged hit-and-run death of a New Brunswick man on Sunday afternoon.

According to Cpt. J.T. Miller of New Brunswick Police, around 12:10 p.m. Sunday, 55-year-old Victorian Arias was crossing Handy Street in a crosswalk when he was struck by a Ford Pickup truck that was making a turn onto Handy Street from Joyce Kilmer Avenue's southbound lane.

The truck left the scene after hitting Arias, who was pronounced dead around 7 p.m. that evening at Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital, Miller said.

Police located the truck a little while later, and arrested the driver, 42-year-old Jose Soares of South River.

Soares was charged with leaving the scene of the accident and endangering the welfare of an injured victim, Miller said.

He is being held at the Middlesex County Jail with bail set at $50,000, Miller said.