“Over the past five years, we have seen a significant increase in pedestrian traffic,” he said of the area on Alex Bell Road, between Springboro Pike and Lamme Road.
Matheny’s cousin, Herb Matheny, said Roger wasn’t too far from the apartment he shared with his wife, Meg, when he was struck.
The westbound van had the right of way and had traveled through a green light when it hit him.
The driver told police Matheny was walking north across the road from the Meijer parking lot north to the strip mall on the other side of the street.
He was looking downward and speaking into his cell phone when the van hit him.
The accident is still under investigation, DiPietro said.
“It hit me pretty hard,” Herb Matheny said, noting that he went to the scene after receiving a call from Roger’s wife.
She told him she had called Roger Matheny’s cell phone and was told by a Miami Twp. police officer that her husband had been in a accident.
Herb Matheny and his wife, Jean, who was also a former Moraine mayor and city councilwoman, went to the scene and discovered that Roger Matheny had died.
Herb Matheny believes his cousin was walking home because his car had broken down. Police found the car in the parking lot of Coyote’s Pub & Grub on Springboro Pike, DiPietro said.
Police also have witness statements that suggest Roger Matheny was in Coyote’s, but DiPietro would not comment on whether Matheny had been drinking.
Herb Matheny said his cousin was studying to be a paralegal at the time of his death. He grew up in Moraine, graduated from West Carrollton High School and attended the University of Dayton. He is also the former owner of the Family Market in Moraine.
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