HANCOCK COUNTY — The Anderson man who was left lying in a ditch with severe injuries following a hit-and-run accident on July 26 has died.
Terry Huff, 67, Anderson, was taken off life support Sunday and died shortly thereafter, the Hancock County Sheriff’s Department said Monday afternoon.
Jonathan K. Jacobi, 37, McCordsville, the man accused of hitting Huff’s bicycle and leaving the scene, has already been charged with a Level 4 felony count of leaving the scene of an accident resulting in death or catastrophic injury.
Prosecutor Brent Eaton isn’t sure whether his office will alter charges against Jacobi.
“Our job is to charge it correctly and be prepared to hold people accountable, and that’s what the charge against him already does,” Eaton said.
Eaton, however, did not rule out the possibility of additional charges. He plans to discuss the case with his deputies.
On the morning of July 26, Huff was riding west on State Road 234 west of State Road 9 when he was struck from behind. The force of the collision threw Huff and his bicycle into a ditch, where he eventually was spotted by a passing motorist. A 911 call was placed at about 10:25; it’s unclear how long Huff had been in the ditch before he was found.
An affidavit filed in support of charges against Jacobi listed nearly two dozen fractures and multiple internal injuries that Huff had suffered. He was rushed into emergency surgery immediately after being flown by helicopter to IU Methodist Hospital.
Huff’s sister told detectives that doctors informed her Huff would likely never walk again if he survived, the document said.
Video surveillance footage that placed a truck like Jacobi’s near the scene helped lead detectives to Jacobi. When initially interviewed by investigators, Jacobi said he had fallen asleep while driving and had “woken abruptly” but that he did not think he had struck anything, court records said. Shortly after that, when he saw the damage, he concluded he must have struck a mailbox, he told detectives, according to the court records.
Jacobi told officials he didn’t know anything about a bicyclist being hit. It wasn’t until he was arrested and interviewed later by detectives that Jacobi stated he knew he had struck a bicyclist but he had kept driving after the collision because he was scared, the court documents said.
Jacobi, who was driving a Ford F350 pickup, drove to a body shop in Marion County within a half-hour after the 911 call to have the damage from the collision repaired.
In an initial hearing last week, Jacobi pleaded not guilty and was freed on a $7,500 cash bond.
Barring new charges, Jacobi’s next court appearance will be a pretrial conference Sept. 17 in Hancock County Superior Court 1.
