Trucker fatally hit on I-78 near Lehigh County; driver left scene, police say

A trucker who was hit by a passing vehicle along Interstate 78 near Lehigh County has died, police said late Friday.

Jymel D. Smith, 49, of Clermont, Florida, stopped his tractor-trailer on the right shoulder of I-78 westbound shortly before 5 p.m. Friday near mile marker 41.5 in Greenwich Township, Berks County, state police at Hamburg said.

He was then hit by a passing motorist who failed to stop or notify law enforcement, police said.

Police said the motorist, Akhmadkhon V. Ubaykhonov, 42, of Philadelphia, was found “away from the scene” and taken into custody for leaving the scene of a fatal crash, police said in a news release.

The accident happened about 3 miles west of the Lehigh County border.

Ubaykhonov was arraigned Saturday by Berks County District Judge Kim L. Bagenstose on a charge of accident involving death or personal injury, a second-degree felony, court records show. He was lodged in the county prison without bail

Anyone who witnessed the accident is asked to call police at 610-562-6885; ask for Trooper Brian Roland.