Nineteen-year-olds Juan Taylor, Robert Brown and 18-year-old Jaeden Servantes were arraigned today following their arrest for a hit-and-run Tuesday night that left a cyclist hospitalized.
Edinburg Municipal Judge Hector Bustos charged Brown, the driver, with “collision involving serious bodily injury,” a third-degree felony. The charge is punishable by two-to-10 years jail time and a fine of up to $10,000.
Brown was also charged with failure to report a felony, a class A misdemeanor punishable by a year in county jail and a fine of up to $4,000. The total bond amount is set at $60,000.
Bustos charged Servantes and Taylor, passengers in the car, with failure to report a felony, a class A misdemeanor punishable by a year in county jail and a fine of up to $4,000. Each have a bond set at $10,000.
Sharon Mahone, Taylor’s aunt, exited the courtroom before embracing two other family members in tears.
“He’s come down here to learn and he was just a passenger in the car,” Mahone said about Taylor. “It was all a misunderstanding, an accident. But, I don’t feel that he should be responsible.”
She said she thought the coaches would be present.
“The coaches are not here,” Mahone said. “And I would think they [were] going to support them and I don’t see not one coach. Not one.”
As reported by The Rider today, the Edinburg Police Department responded around 9 p.m. Tuesday to an alleged auto-cyclist collision near 21st Avenue and University Drive.
Emergency Medical Services transported the male cyclist to Doctors Hospital at Renaissance in Edinburg.
The Rider called Roxanne Lerma, director of Communications & Media for the City of Edinburg, for updates on the victim’s condition, but Lerma did not answer.
Jonah Goldberg, senior associate athletic director for Communications & Championships, wrote in an email today that UTRGV Athletics is “aware of the situation.”
“We are in the process of gathering information and will take appropriate action if necessary,” Goldberg wrote. “We will have no further comment at this time.”
Patrick Gonzales, vice president for University Marketing and Communications, said the university is cooperating with the Edinburg Police Department and that UTRGV is taking the situation seriously.
