Fatal Hit-And-Run Defendant Faces Trial In Montgomery County

SKIPPACK TOWNSHIP, PA — A local man will be heading to trial on fatal hit-and-run related charges after he recently waived his preliminary hearing before a lower court judge.

Jesse Austin Neou, 27, of the Harleysville section of Skippack Township, Montgomery County, will face trial on a felony charge of accidents involving death or personal injury and related summary counts after the case against him moved forward to Montgomery County Common Pleas Court, according to media reports and court records.

Neou was criminally charged back in April by Pennsylvania State Police in connection with the February death of Susan Rein, 62, who was taking a morning walk in a parking lot outside of a local apartment complex when she was struck and run over by a pickup truck that prosecutors allege was driven by the defendant.

A story in the Mercury newspaper stated that surveillance video showed Neou using a remote starter on his 2015 GMC Sierra pickup truck, and then getting in the vehicle, driving out of the parking lot, and fleeing the scene.

Police alleged that Neou ran over Rein, killing her in the process, while the defendant reportedly claimed that he had no knowledge that he struck anyone or anything, the Mercury reported.

At around 11 a.m. the morning of February accident, state troopers went to neighboring Bucks County to speak with Neou at his workplace in Richland Township, at which time they noticed what appeared to be human hair stuck in the undercarriage of the vehicle, according to the story, which cited a police criminal complaint.

Court records show that Neou had a preliminary hearing scheduled for June 29 before Magisterial District Judge Albert Augustine, which he subsequently waived.

The court docket shows that the case has since been transferred to Montgomery County Common Pleas Court. A formal arraignment has been scheduled to take place on Aug. 10.

Records show that Neou remains free on $50,000 unsecured bail pending trial.