Overview
- Police say surveillance video shows 53-year-old Thomas Earl Cole’s black Chevrolet truck hitting a boy on a bicycle at New York Avenue and Lacock Street before leaving the scene.
- Medics found the child unresponsive nearby and pronounced him dead at the location, according to Rochester Borough police.
- Investigators traced the truck by registration to Cole in Monaca, took him into custody, and filed charges that include homicide by vehicle while DUI and related offenses.
- Officers noted an odor of alcohol on Cole’s breath, and a criminal complaint says he told police he felt a bump and later saw only a pile of rocks.
- The Beaver County district attorney identified the victim as Therman Wallace Jr., a third-grader, as the district held a remembrance and offered counseling, and neighbors reported a new 10 mph sign on Lacock Street after the crash due to cut-through traffic concerns.