Jan 28, 2021 2 min read

A Virginia trucker charged with striking and killing a man with his rig on Interstate 70 earlier this month waived his case to trial and is seeking to be freed on bond.

Hosea Holcomb IV, 27, of Emporia, is accused of hitting John Marvin Isenberg III with his tractor-trailer in Fallowfield Township on Jan. 11 and then leaving the scene of the accident.

State police said Isenberg, 33, of Toronto, Ohio, was working on his disabled tractor-trailer on the shoulder of the eastbound lanes of the highway when he was struck and killed. He died at the scene.

Police stopped Holcomb’s rig about 11 miles east of the accident scene at the interstate’s on-ramp to the Mon-Fayette Expressway. A motorist who witnessed the accident told investigators Holcomb had been driving recklessly. Holcomb told police he did not know he had struck someone when he veered onto the berm, although he allegedly admitted to being sleep-deprived.

Holcomb, who is being held without bond at the Washington County jail, appeared by teleconference during his preliminary hearing Wednesday afternoon before District Judge Eric Glenn Porter as he waived felony charges of homicide by vehicle and accident involving death, along with several traffic citations.

His attorney, Michael Waltman, said a pretrial hearing will be held at 2 p.m. Thursday in which he will ask that Holcomb be released on non-monetary bond. Waltman noted that Holcomb has no criminal record and there was no evidence of drugs or alcohol in his system at the time of the incident.

“It’s certainly a tragic accident, but he should be home,” Waltman said.