A Villager’s son will be spared prosecution after a hit-and-run crash in November in his father’s pickup.
Parker Jake Arnold, 29, of Lexington, S.C., had been arrested at his father’s home in the Village of Santiago two days after a four-vehicle-chain-reaction crash on U.S. 441 near the Wal-Mart store in Summerfield.
When law enforcement arrived on the scene, an abandoned red Chevy Colorado pickup with major front-end damage was discovered on the shoulder of the road. The other drivers described the pickup’s driver as a white male in his 20s. They said he had fled the scene.
Dispatch contacted the registered owner of the truck at his home on Carvello Drive in The Villages. He said his son had been using the truck, according to an arrest report from the Florida Highway Patrol.
A trooper went to the home in The Villages where Arnold’s father claimed his son was catching a taxi to the house. Arnold never showed up.
A woman who had gone to the hospital as a result of the crash, was able to identify Arnold in a photo lineup.
Troopers returned to The Villages home where this time they found Arnold and placed him under arrest on two counts of hit and run.
The prosecutor’s office announced on Dec. 7 that no information would be filed in the case. His $2,500 bond has been refunded.
