MOLINE, Illinois – Nearly two months after it happened, police say they’ve arrested a man suspected in a hit-and-run that left another man hospitalized and suffering from severe head trauma.
Neighbors reported hearing a loud noise outside, but no one saw the incident, when 31-year-old Branden was hit by a vehicle as he walked in the 1500 block of 40th Avenue, near Best Buy, just before 9 p.m. Friday, March 18, 2016.
Branden, the father of three boys, was struck from behind as he walked home from dinner, according to information posted by his mother on a GoFundMe page created to help his family. Branden was thrown more than 30 feet, the post said, and he was hospitalized for weeks after he suffered severe head trauma, a broken ankle and road rash among his many injuries.
Now, police think 21-year-old Robert D. Wilson was the driver who struck Branden. Wilson was arrested in East Moline on Sunday, May 15, 2016, on a warrant charging him with failure to report an accident involving serious injury or death, according to a statement from Rock Island County Sheriff’s Department chief Deputy Steve Ven Huizen.
Court records showed Wilson was charged with misdemeanor public indecency/sexual conduct also on May 15. The two charges were consolidated into one case when Wilson appeared in court Monday, May 16.
Wilson was held in the Rock Island County Jail in lieu of $75,000 bond.
