NEWPORT NEWS, Va. (WAVY) — Sixty-one-year-old Robert Hill, a Newport News Shipbuilding employee, had just dropped off two grandchildren on the afternoon of July 25 when a black sedan crashed into his white SUV.

A chain-link fence around a home that was for sale was destroyed, and a power pole fell to the ground. Hill wore a digital device that sent an S.O.S to his family. Resident Bobby Dupree saw the aftermath of the crash, but he didn’t know what happened to the man in the SUV.

“I was coming out of that building right there,” Dupree said. “I just saw a man lying on the ground. … I didn’t know he was dead. I really didn’t.”

The disturbing video fills in the blanks of a tragic story. Residents and Hill’s family wanted to know why the local media did not cover Hill’s death.

After 10 On Your Side raised questions earlier this week, the Newport News Police Public Affairs unit issued a statement that explained the crash happened after police tried to stop a suspect for an alleged traffic violation.

On Thursday, July 25 at 4:06 p.m., NNPD observed a traffic violation and attempted a traffic stop of a sedan on Chestnut Avenue at 28th Street. When the officer approached the vehicle, the driver accelerated west on 28th Street, running a red light at 28th Street and Wickham Avenue and continuing at a high rate of speed. The vehicle traveled into the path of a sports utility vehicle which was traveling south with a green light on Wickham Avenue, causing a crash between the two vehicles. The driver of the sedan fled the area on foot. The driver of the sports utility vehicle, 61-year-old Robert Hill of Newport News, was transported to a local hospital, where he was pronounced deceased at 7:51 p.m.

— Matt Michalec, Senior Communications Specialist, Newport News Police

Carlton Wilkins has been charged with involuntary manslaughter, failure to stop in an accident with injury, eluding/disregarding police, reckless driving, not having a driver’s license and a safety belt violation in connection to the crash.

According to court records, Wilkins was arrested Aug. 2.

Casiana Taliaferro witnessed the deadly incident.

“I recorded the scene, what happened, and that was about it,” Taliaferro said. “Nobody around Newport News [residents] knew anything about it. I asked a lot of people. No, the city wasn’t notified.”

Police Chief Steve Drew told 10 On Your Side the department had to coordinate with the prosecutor and the family. He also said the department was busy with the case of an officer who shot and killed a man two days after Hill’s death.

A resident who did not want to be identified had this message for Hill’s family.

“I really do pray for easy grieving because it wasn’t anything easy, even standing there and looking at the scene knowing that somebody’s life was in danger. It was pretty sad.”

Funeral services for Robert Hill are set for Tuesday; a viewing is set for Monday.