PRINCE GEORGE’S COUNTY, MARYLAND: A hit-and-run driver killed a 28-year-old man in Prince George's County with the suspect getting caught in the act on a doorbell camera.
Maryland police say 28-year-old Franklin Membreno Mendez of New Carrollton was found dead at Ardwick Ardmore Road on Saturday.
They are hunting for the driver who casually and calmly walked around his car before taking his time dislodging Mendez’s dead body from the windshield, smoking a cigarette, and driving off, according to the footage captured from a doorbell camera.
Horrified residents called Prince George's County police shortly before 4 am on Saturday when they saw the half-naked body of Franklin Mendez lying in a ditch outside their homes in Ardwick Ardmore Road.
Disbelieving officers realized the 28-year-old El Salvadorean had been struck by the car on Annapolis Road earlier that morning and was carried two miles along the highway before the driver pulled into the quiet back street of 7500 block of Ardwick Ardmore Road and dumped the deceased victim.
Where did the accident take place?
Police believe Mendez had been involved in a traffic accident on the 8900 block of Annapolis Road when he was struck by the gray Honda Civic.
According to a statement released by Prince George's County Police Department, the victim was involved in an unrelated minor collision two miles away in the 8900 block of Annapolis Road.
After Mendez exited his car, he was apparently struck by the unidentified suspect and became lodged in the windshield of the suspect’s vehicle.
The driver then drove two miles with Mendez on his windshield before pulling Mendez's body off and leaving him dead on Ardwick Ardmore Road, police say.
In the early hours of Saturday, at approximately 4:05 am, officers responded to the 7500 block of Ardwick Ardmore Road for a welfare check. The victim was located on the side of the road and was pronounced dead at the scene, the statement revealed.
What did the residents say?
Residents of the 7500 block of Ardwick Ardmore Road, fear that the suspect might be a local resident.
“All his clothes were gone from his waist down,” said the neighbor whose doorbell camera filmed the incident.
“I called the police and the police came but then when I looked at the camera it showed he took his time, that's why I think he probably knows the neighborhood,” she told Fox 5.
“He took his time getting out the car, he walked around and then he was round there for a couple of minutes and when he came back, he got in the vehicle, lit a cigarette or whatever.”
“And then he made a U-turn in front of my house.”
GoFundMe page created for Franklin Membreno Mendez
Friends of the El Salvadorean-born digital creator have set up a GoFundMe page to help pay for his funeral after his untimely demise.
Police have stated that the car involved in the incident is believed to be a 2011 to 2017 gray Honda Civic with a large white decal across the top of the back window.
After the hit-and-run, the car will have incurred damages to its passenger side front bumper and fender and will have a hole in the windshield.
They have appealed to anyone with relevant information surrounding the case to contact the Collision Analysis and Reconstruction Unit at 301-731-4422.
