Student denies involvement in hit-and-run

An IU student was arrested after his vehicle allegedly struck another IU student crossing the street near Collins Center Sunday evening, according to IU Police Department reports.

Todd Wantz was walking westbound across the intersection of 10th Street and Woodlawn Avenue at about 7 p.m. Sunday when a silver minivan struck him, "forcing" him on top of the hood and then onto the pavement, according to the report.

Wantz told police the vehicle was making a right turn onto 10th Street through a red light on Woodlawn. He said in the report he was well into the crosswalk when the vehicle hit him.

Wantz was transported by ambulance to Bloomington Hospital. The report states he had a laceration under his chin and abrasions on his knees.

A witness to the accident took down the license plate number of the vehicle and provided police with a description of the vehicle -- a silver Dodge Caravan, the report states.

According to the report, Wantz provided a similar description of the vehicle. Through the information provided, officers tracked down IU student Eliot Delunas at his home and found his vehicle nearby.

IUPD later arrested Delunas for false informing and leaving the scene of an accident. While Delunas admitted he provided false information, he said he was wrongly accused of involvement in a hit-and-run. He said he was near the intersection at about the time of the accident, but didn't recall hitting anybody.

"I was in that area," he told the Indiana Daily Student, explaining why witnesses matched the physical description of the Dodge Caravan and his license plate number. "Obviously somebody saw my car there."

Delunas first told officers his name was Tim Allen, according to the report. But Delunas later reported to the IDS that he provided false information because the police caught him by surprise.

He said he wanted to discuss the situation with somebody before he discussed it with the police. Delunas said there was no damage to his vehicle that would suggest it had been involved in a hit-and-run. But IUPD Lt. Jerry Minger said the car's condition was not uncharacteristic of an accident of this nature -- given the speed of a vehicle slowing to make a turn and the minor injuries sustained by the victim.
 
"That wasn't all that surprising, given that it wasn't a serious bodily injury accident," Minger said. Minger said officers impounded the vehicle and returned it to the owner the next day.

Wentz was taken to the hospital and later released.

Editor’s Note (April 27, 2010): On May 10, 2006, the defendant, Eliot Delunas, pleaded guilty to the False Informing charge, but the State dismissed the charge of Leaving the Scene of an Accident. The Court sentenced Delunas to two days in jail with credit for one day served.