An accident initially reported at as fatal hit-and-run involving a pedestrian early Thursday in Joppa has raised murkier questions, Maryland State Police say.
The victim, identified as 22-year-old Timothy L. White Jr., of Joppa, was pronounced dead at Route 7 near Gunpowder Ridge Road, just after 4 a.m.
State police at first sent out a news release saying White had been killed by a hit-and-run driver.
But investigating troopers later said they don't why White's silver Honda CR-V was found with the engine running on a hill on Gunpowder Ridge Road, several hundred feet away, according to a follow-up release from the State Police Bel Air Barrack.
A pickup truck driver, 61-year-old Wayne A. Thompson, was administering CPR to White when troopers arrived at the scene, according to police Thompson told the troopers the body was lying in the roadway and he had accidentally run over it.
State Police say they don't know now if White was hit by another vehicle before being struck by Thompson's pickup.
"After an examination of the victim's body by a forensic examiner at the scene, it is unclear if the victim had been hit by another vehicle before being struck by the driver who stopped," they said in a statement. "Troopers are unsure at this time what caused the victim to be lying in the roadway."
Family members told police White was expected to be home around 1 a.m. Investigators determined he was buying food on Joppa Farm Road shortly after 2 a.m., according to State Police.
Troopers from the State Police Crash Team and investigators from the Criminal Enforcement Division are involved in the continuing investigation. White's body was taken to the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner for an autopsy.
Anyone who witnessed the crash or has information about the vehicle or driver responsible is urged to contact Maryland State Police at the Bel Air Barrack at 410-879-2101. Callers may remain confidential.
The incident is the second fatal crash in Harford County within 12 hours, after a box truck and Ford pickup truck collided Wednesday afternoon on Route 152 just south of Route 1 in Fallston, killing a 57-year-old Essex man who was driving the box truck.