LYNN — A Lynn man who allegedly struck and killed a pedestrian on Storrow Drive in Boston before fleeing the scene was released on a $5,000 bail following his arraignment in the Charlestown division of Boston Municipal Court Monday, according to the office of Suffolk County District Attorney Kevin Hayden.
Miguel Rodriguez, 35, is charged with operating under the influence of alcohol, motor vehicle homicide by OUI alcohol, and leaving the scene of a crash, causing personal injury or death in connection with the early Saturday incident, which killed Brandon Jennings, 22, of Marlboro, Hayden’s office said in a statement.
In court Monday, prosecutors said Jennings had accompanied friends and relatives to a bar near TD Garden on Friday night before later splitting from the group. Jennings was later seen walking on Storrow Drive, when he was struck by a gray Honda Accord, allegedly driven by Rodriguez around 1 a.m. Saturday, the statement said.
Boston Emergency Medical Services and State Police administered first aid to Jennings, but he was pronounced dead at the scene of the crash. Meanwhile, the driver of a car who was behind Rodriguez witnessed him allegedly strike Jennings and flee the scene, the statement said. The motorist followed him to an apartment building at 65 Centre St. in Lynn, where the driver called the police and provided Rodriguez’s location as well as the license plate number of the car he was driving.
State Police found Rodriguez in the parking lot at that address and administered a portable breath test, on which he allegedly registered a blood-alcohol level of .119 approximately two hours after the crash, the statement said. Rodriguez was then taken into police custody, where he posted a $5,000 bail.
At his arraignment Monday, Rodriguez was also ordered to remain drug- and alcohol-free while the case is pending and to not drive without a valid license, the statement said.
“I’m grateful to the individual who witnessed this crash and took quick action to provide police with information that led to an arrest in this terrible case,” Hayden said in the statement. “This helped provide Mr. Jennings’ family with answers to questions about their loved one’s death, and it ensures that my office is able to hold accountable the person responsible for taking his life.”
Charlie McKenna can be reached at [email protected].
