When a criminal case was filed against the suspect in a Monday night hit-and-run fatality in Jasonville, more details emerged, including the name of the victim. When the suspect appeared in court Thursday morning, his bond was set at $20,000 with ten percent cash allowed.

Billy Robert Schubla, 66, Linton, is the suspect. He was arrested Tuesday evening, April 16, by Officer Ryan Van Horn of the Jasonville Police Department.

In a probable cause affidavit prepared by Officer Van Horn, the pedestrian was identified as Jerry Anderson of Jasonville. JPD information previously released stated Anderson was 54 years old.

The accident occurred on State Road 48 between North Park Street and North Horace Street in Jasonville. When JPD officers were dispatched around 9:12 p.m. on Monday, April 15, they were told a vehicle had struck a pedestrian. After they arrived on the scene, they found out the vehicle did not stop but had fled from the area. Witnesses described it as an older model Ford pickup truck.

The pedestrian, Jerry Anderson, was first transported by the Greene County Ambulance Service to Greene County General Hospital. From there, he was transported via medical helicopter to Regional Hospital Trauma Center in Terre Haute but he died enroute.

Evidence collected on the scene by JPD Officer Brian Pilant included multiple pieces of vehicle parts including a Ford emblem. Officer Van Horn said officers were able to cross match part numbers and determined the Ford emblem belonged to a 1982 or 1983 Ford F-150.

Officer Van Horn reported that officers were able to obtain surveillance footage from local businesses in the area. Footage from Pizza Villa showed the suspect vehicle pre-crash traveling through the intersection of State Road 48 and Meridian Street. At that time, it was traveling with the normal flow of traffic at a reasonable speed. Footage from Recovery Plus Wrecker Service showed the suspect vehicle post-crash traveling at a high rate of speed westbound on State Road 48.

JPD officers then got a list, from the Bureau of Motor Vehicles, of all 1982 and 1983 Ford F-150s in Greene, Sullivan, Clay and Vigo counties and started contacting the owners to check for front end damage on their vehicles.

Van Horn reported one of these contacts was with an individual in Linton who said she had sold the truck and though she was not able to give them a name, she was able to give them a place of employment. When officers made contact, the employer gave them the name of Billy Schubla.

JPD Chief Jim Gadberry and Officer Andrew Duguay then located Schubla at a residence in Jasonville. Schubla allegedly told them the truck was parked in Clay County and admitted he had been involved in an accident.

During a later interview, Schubla allegedly said when he was westbound on State Road 48, he heard a loud noise but did not know what he had hit – maybe a dog. He also said, “I just heard it hit, I didn’t even see him.” He said he found out he may have hit a person when he watched the news. However, at one point in the interview, he also allegedly said that when he stopped in Coalmont and got out to take a look at his truck, he realized he had hit a person.

When asked why he did not call the police, he allegedly said he was scared. He also said he was not under the influence of anything at the time of the accident. When asked where the pedestrian hit on the truck, Schubla said right in the center of the truck.

Officer Van Horn wrote that an autopsy was performed on Wednesday, April 17, by Dr. Roland Kohr, a forensic pathologist. Dr. Kohr said preliminary findings for cause of death were blunt force trauma to the head and abdomen.

Indiana State Police Trooper Eric Russell, a crime scene technician, was called in to examine the vehicle and ISP Trooper John Yung, an accident reconstructionist, was called to the scene and collected data.

Trooper Yung reported that based on the location of the victim’s injuries and the damage to the vehicle, he believed the victim was in a standing position at the time of the accident.

During Schubla’s initial hearing in Greene Circuit Court on Thursday, Schubla was charged with leaving the scene of an accident resulting in death, a Level 5 felony, and Judge Eric Allen set his bond at $20,000 with ten percent cash allowed. As of 6 p.m. Thursday, Schubla had not yet posted bond and remained in jail.