CLEVELAND — An Avon Lake man accused of striking a construction worker in Westlake appeared in court on Friday morning for an arraignment.
The arraignment hearing came after 50-year-old Rolando Rodriguez allegedly struck a construction worker with his vehicle on June 20. The incident happened on I-90 West at Columbia Road while a construction company was setting up a work zone. During the arraignment, the judge continued Rodriguez's bond of $50,000 with electronic monitoring. Prosecutors had asked for the bond to be increased to $100,000.
Rodriguez also entered a not guilty plea. His first pretrial hearing is scheduled for Aug. 4 at 9 a.m.
On Thursday, July 6, Rodriguez was indicted by a Cuyahoga County grand jury on three counts of aggravated vehicular assault, failure to stop after accident and driving while under the influence.
The worker, who was identified as Richard Szymkowski, was seriously hurt and injured as a result of the accident.
Sara Niemann, a family friend of the victim previously told 3News that "He does have some pretty serious injuries, including a skull fracture, which does have 17 sutures on it, he did have some internal bleeding with a liver laceration. He is completely covered in road rash and cuts, bruises, and his legs are both broken from the knee down, one including a compound fracture."
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