Background: A section of the 3900 block of Pickett Road in Fairfax, Virginia (Google Maps). Inset: Lawrence Onley (Fairfax City Police Department).
A 13-year-old child was riding an e-bike along a crosswalk in Virginia when a garbage truck driver fatally struck them, authorities say.
Lawrence Onley, 46, has been charged with careless driving and infliction of injury or death on vulnerable road users, the Fairfax City Police Department announced. He was booked into the Fairfax County Adult Detention Center and issued a $1,500 bond.
The child's name has not been released.
On Sept. 9, Onley was driving a garbage truck in Fairfax, Virginia, a city just west of Washington, D.C. Police say he was leaving a shopping center and turning onto the 3900 block of Pickett Road, where there was a crosswalk.
As Onley looked to the left before he made his turn, the teenager was using a "pedal-assist e-bike" on a sidewalk and entered the crosswalk. Onley then allegedly "pulled forward into the roadway," striking the child.
Police responded to the area after getting a report of a motor vehicle crash involving a teen "and a large truck." The child was pronounced dead at the scene.
Investigators spotted a truck "matching the description of the vehicle involved," and they identified Onley as the suspect. Though investigators initially considered the crash as a possible hit-and-run, "information developed during the investigation indicated the driver was unaware that the truck had struck the juvenile at the time of the crash."
Onley reportedly turned himself in to police, and he was arrested. The Fairfax County Commonwealth Attorney's Office has been reviewing the details of the case.
Police say Onley has a pending court date, but that date was not immediately available.