(File Photo: Caption for Photo: police car lights at night in city with selective focus and bokeh background blur, Credit for Photo: Courtesy of Getty Images/iStockphoto/z1b)

Noah Haswell, Beaver County Radio News

(Beaver County, PA) All charges against Thomas Earl Cole, 53, of Monaca, in connection with a fatal hit-and-run crash in Beaver County were held for trial yesterday.

The charges include homicide by vehicle while driving under the influence. Prosecutors also added two additional DUI-related charges.

The courtroom was packed with family members of both the defendant and the victim.

Rochester Police Department officers and investigators testified, sharing details from the hit-and-run scene and the investigation that followed.

Prosecutors allege Cole was under the influence when he struck a 9-year-old boy along Pennsylvania Avenue in Rochester on April 24.

The child, identified in court as Therman Wallace Jr., was found severely injured on the ground near his bicycle. Witnesses testified that first responders attempted life-saving measures, but he died at the scene.

Video shown in court captured the moment a black pickup truck struck the child while he was riding his bike. Officers testified that the vehicle was registered to Cole.

According to the criminal complaint, officers who spoke with Cole reported smelling “an odor of an intoxicating beverage on his breath.”

Defense attorney Steve Colafella argued there is no evidence Cole was intoxicated before the crash. Colafella said Cole had been at work all day before visiting a friend, where he consumed alcohol and THC products.

According to the defense, Cole was driving to his friend’s home when he felt his vehicle strike something but did not realize he had hit a child.

Cole’s bond was set at $800,000. He is scheduled to be formally arraigned in several weeks.