RANDOLPH, Arizona. – MPs say it was a suspect arrested in connection with a hit-and-run accident that killed one man near Coolidge.
The Pinal County According to the sheriff’s office, on March 29, officers were responding to reports of an injured man lying by the side of the road in Randolph, near Bateman Street and Hudson Road.
At the scene, officers found the victim, 85-year-old Melvin Moore. He was taken to a hospital where he later died.
Investigators said they learned that Moore had recently hired 20-year-old Ricky Gibson to do odd jobs for him. When Moore found out that a motorized bicycle had been stolen from him, he suspected that Gibson had stolen it. Moore’s pickup truck was also missing from his property. It was later found abandoned near the scene of the accident.
Ricky Gibson (Pinal County Sheriff’s Office)
Detectives followed Gibson to a nearby house. While investigators conducted surveillance, Gibson and several others attempted to escape.
Gibson and one other person were arrested. During questioning, the other person reportedly told officers that Gibson admitted to him that he ran over Moore in his truck after Moore confronted him about the stolen bike.
“Gibson grabbed Moore, got into Moore’s truck and ran him over,” the sheriff’s office wrote in a Facebook post.
Gibson was arrested and put in jail. He is charged with first-degree murder and is being held on $1,000,000 bail.
Area where the hit-and-run occurred:
