An arrest in a hit-and-run death in central Iowa raises more questions about the two and-a-half-month-old investigation into the case. Altoona police John Gray announced it late Wednesday. They arrested 22-year-old Justin Andrew Pollard of Altoona, and charged him with first-degree murder in the death of Anna Marie Rittman.
Chief Gray says Rittman died on December 27 after she was hit by a pickup in the parking lot of the Lowe’s Home Improvement store in Altoona. Chief Gray says Pollard didn’t know Rittman or her family, through work or personally. Yet the Iowa Code of law says first-degree murder is an act done “willfully, deliberately and with premeditation.”
“Based upon the video evidence we had, it’s clear that this was an intentional act,” Gray says. He says once they impounded the truck it became more apparent to law enforcement investigators that the incident was intentional.
The 22-year-old suspect, arrested at work in Des Moines on Wednesday, has made no statements. Pollard’s jailed in Polk County on a quarter-million dollars bond. Pollard’s expected to have an initial court appearance this (Thursday) morning.