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New Carrollton's Franklin Membreno Mendez has been identified as the person struck and killed in a hit-and-run in Lanham on Saturday morning after he was involved in a separate crash and got out of his car to survey the damage, police say.
Officers from the Prince George's County Police Department were called to the 7500 block of Ardwick Ardmore Road shortly after 4 a.m. on Saturday, Oct. 21, where there was a report of a dead body on the side of the road after he suffered traumatic injuries in a second crash.
According to the department, investigators determined that Membreno Mendez had been involved in an unrelated crash about two miles away in the 8900 block of Annapolis Road, and when he exited his vehicle after that incident, he was struck by another car and became lodged in the windshield.
Instead of stopping, the driver sped away to Ardwick Ardmore Road, where he left him on the side of the roadway and fled the area in what is believed to be a gray Honda Civic produced between 2011 and 2016 with a large white decal across the back of the window that now has damage to the front bumper on the passenger's side, its fender, and a hole in the windshield.
Following his death, a fundraising campaign has been started on behalf of Membreno Mendez's family, which quickly raised thousands of dollars within just days.
The incident remains under investigation.
Anyone with information regarding either crash or the hit-and-run has been asked to contact the department's Collision Analysis and Reconstruction Unit by calling (301) 731-4422.
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