A Berks County woman seriously injured in a Harrisburg, Pennsylvania hit-and-run says the charges filed against the man who struck her more than 15 months ago simply don't go far enough.
April Hoyrup was working as an overnight road construction flagger on Wednesday (November 22), 2024 — just her third night on the job — when a vehicle struck her at the corner of Paxton and Cameron streets and drove away without stopping. Hoyrup suffered catastrophic injuries, including two broken leg bones that broke through the skin and six to eight fractures in her pelvis. She was rushed to the intensive care unit and has since undergone multiple surgeries.
According to CBS21, Harrisburg police this week arrested and charged Jakob Thomas Roth, 28, of Camp Hill, Pennsylvania, in connection with the crash. Court documents say Roth met with detectives alongside his lawyer and admitted to hitting Hoyrup — who had her back to his vehicle — but said he panicked and fled the scene.
Roth faces one first-degree misdemeanor count of accidents involving death or personal injury, along with three summary traffic offenses, including driving at an unsafe speed. He is currently out on bail, with a preliminary hearing scheduled for Tuesday (March 3).
Hoyrup, who spent 12 weeks in a wheelchair over Thanksgiving and celebrated her birthday in the hospital, told Local 21 News she still has nine to 12 more months of physical therapy ahead of her. She has not returned to work since the crash.
"While he may have gotten away with it for 16 months, you can only run for so long," Hoyrup said. "My injuries were very severe, and in turn, they should be severe charges."
Hoyrup's mother, Sharon Downing, described the terrifying moment she arrived at the hospital after the crash. "There's tubes everywhere. I don't even know where they started or where they ended, and, you know, monitors everywhere. It's something that you only see on TV," Downing said.
Roth's defense attorney, Brian Perry, issued a statement saying his client willingly cooperated with investigators. "Although the accident was not his fault, he had an obligation to stop at the scene. Mr. Roth wishes the victim in this case a speedy recovery," Perry said.
Hoyrup said she hopes to one day hear directly from the man who hit her. "One day, I hope to hear from him, himself, not from his lawyer. I want to hear from him," she said.
As for what comes next, Hoyrup says the arrest marks a new beginning. "It's almost like the beginning of the end," she said, adding that she plans to move forward one step at a time as the legal process plays out.