Overview
- Ronald Thomas Mayo, 44, was arrested late Thursday at a residence off US-70 and charged with felony hit-and-run involving death in Johnston County.
- Troopers say he drove a flatbed towing a sewer cleaner through a traffic-controlled work site on Live Oak Church Road, where the load caught a low-hanging power line.
- The entanglement caused Pike Electric lineman James P. Rudzki, 29, to fall and die, and a second worker sustained minor injuries.
- The truck was located and impounded as the State Highway Patrol continues its investigation, and authorities say Mayo left the scene before being taken into custody.
- Mayo made his first court appearance Friday; his attorney said he learned the consequences only from news reports, and relatives plan to post bond while the case proceeds.