Suspect plows SUV into man in wheelchair, drives off: Cops
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Background: The location where Mark Hendel was reportedly struck is the 4500 block of Old Pineville Road in Charlotte, North Carolina (Google Maps). Inset: Ioannis Vlahos (Mecklenburg County Sheriff’s Office).

A man in North Carolina is accused of crashing his SUV into a man in a wheelchair so badly that the device was lodged into his vehicle.

Authorities have charged 59-year-old Ioannis Vlahos with a felony for hit-and-run causing serious injury or death, operating a vehicle without a driver’s license, and driving without liability insurance. This news comes from an announcement by the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department released on Wednesday. The crash victim, 52-year-old Mark Hendel, succumbed to his injuries on Monday.

On August 24 around 10:15 p.m., officers responded to a report of a collision on the 4500 block of Old Pineville Road near East Exmore Drive in Charlotte. Upon arrival, they discovered a man, later identified as Hendel, “lying on the roadway” with a wheel found further down the street, as per an affidavit reviewed by Law&Crime.

Hendel was transported to a hospital with “serious injuries,” which medical staff later described as “life-threatening.” Although initially stable and with a positive prognosis, Hendel passed away from his injuries about three weeks later.

As they investigated, officers found out that Hendel was not wearing reflective gear or using lights on his wheelchair, making it difficult to see during the night, and he was not in the designated crosswalk when the incident occurred.

The driver suspected in the hit-and-run did not report the collision. According to police, Hendel was “hit by an unidentified vehicle that left the scene,” and “the driver did not contact emergency services.”

Witnesses provided a breakthrough in the case, per the affidavit. According to police, one of them said a blue Ford Expedition SUV with white rear windows hit the victim and then pulled into the parking lot of a nearby tavern and “removed the wheelchair” before driving off.

Another witness said they saw a man “remove the wheelchair from in his vehicle” and that there was “damage to the grill and radiator.”

Officers found the SUV in question less than five minutes away from the tavern, and after running its information through state databases, learned that it was registered to Vlahos. “The witness describe[d] Vlahos as a white male dark hair and with a larger belly,” the affidavit stated, adding that the description given matched his state DMV picture.

Further investigation found that Vlahos allegedly did not have insurance on his vehicle or licensure to drive in North Carolina. He was arrested and booked into the Mecklenburg County Jail, where he remains on a $250,000 secured bond, according to court records.

Vlahos’ first court appearance was Tuesday, and he has a probable cause hearing scheduled for Oct. 7.

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