Driver Arrested in Gruesome Hit-and-Run Death in Port Richmond

Police say Ramon Morales, 62, struck and then dragged a man on a motor scooter for 240 feet on Wednesday night.

Ramon Morales

Ramon Morales

Thomas Dunbar’s last half-hour on Earth was filled with horrific pain.

Police said Dunbar, 36, was riding on motor scooter in Port Richmond at 9:22 p.m. on Wednesday when a 2004 grey Pontiac Aztec struck him as both turned westbound onto Lehigh Avenue from Aramingo.

Dunbar rolled under the Pontiac and was dragged for 240 feet. A woman who was driving behind the Pontiac had to swerve to avoid striking Dunbar as well, which caused another car to slam into her vehicle. Dunbar, of Almond Street near Cambria, was admitted to Hahnemann University Hospital in critical condition. He died at 9:55 p.m.

The man who allegedly struck and killed Dunbar was arrested on Thursday. Police said Ramon Morales, 62, was charged with murder, accident involving death, homicide by vehicle, and involuntary manslaughter. Police said witnesses attempted to stop Morales, of Cedar Street near Allegheny Avenue, the night of the accident, but he fled the scene.

Investigators found Morales’s car a block away from his house a few hours after Dunbar died.