Lorenzo Martin, a 61-year-old Maple Heights resident, pleaded not guilty today to charges stemming from an alleged hit-and-run incident that injured two Cleveland Water Department employees. According to cleveland.com, Martin was indicted earlier this month by a Cuyahoga County grand jury on two counts of vehicular assault and two counts of failure to stop after an accident. His indictment paperwork noted his license was suspended during the February 13 incident.
The arraignment occurred in Cuyahoga County Court of Common Pleas, with a judge setting Martin's bond at $25,000. This case has drawn attention because the crash left one 55-year-old water department employee in critical condition and another, aged 21, suffering from minor injuries. The accident occurred in the early hours, around 2 a.m., at South Miles Road and Langly Avenue, where the workers were repairing a water main break under coned-off conditions.
Martin was apprehended on the day of the accident by Cleveland police with the help of the Real Time Crime Center. As reported by Cleveland19, officers located him in Maple Heights not even an hour after the crash. Court records indicate he remained in jail today and is scheduled to return to court for a pre-trial on March 6.
Additional details of the case, as described by WKYC, indicate that, according to the indictment, Martin was driving eastbound on South Miles Road when his vehicle struck the water department workers despite their traffic control protection. After the alleged fleeing from the scene, Martin and the vehicle were found in Maple Heights. The update on the condition of the 55-year-old employee was not available during the time of the report.
