CHIPLEY — Police have arrested a man they believe left the scene after the car he was driving struck and killed a teenager Thursday night.
Matthew Lee Horn, 36, of Chipley is charged with vehicular homicide, leaving the scene of a crash with death and driving on a suspended license, according to the Chipley Police Department.
Investigators located a Dodge Avenger at 104 Corbin Road about 5:15 p.m. Friday that they believe struck and killed 18-year-old Thomas Richardson, police reported.
The resident and vehicle’s owner told investigators the car was loaned to Horn on the night of the accident, according to reports.
The homeowner said Horn was inside the home, and officers found him hiding under blankets in a bedroom closet.
Horn later told investigators that he was driving the car Thursday night and that he “knew he hit something but didn’t know what it was,” police reported.
Investigators believe alcohol was a factor in the crash, according to police.
Officers recovered a piece of a car at the accident scene Thursday night. They eventually determined it came from a 2010 to 2015 Dodge Avenger.
Investigators looked for residents in Washington and Holmes counties who had a Dodge Avenger in that year range registered to them.
They eventually found the car after getting a tip from a resident.
“As our community always does, an individual came into the Police Department and said that they had seen a Dodge Avenger in the Chipley area with damage that was consistent with the damage of our suspect vehicle,” Police Chief Kevin Crews said. “Not only did the individual report the sighting of our possible suspect vehicle, the individual was able to provide us with the vehicle’s tag number which led us to Corbin Road.”
Horn was found less than 24 hours after the accident.
Officers were dispatched to the area of South Boulevard and Iona Street about 6:13 p.m. Thursday after they received word that a pedestrian had been hit, police reported.
Richardson, of Wausau, was searching for an elderly woman’s missing dog, according to police. He found the animal dead on the side of the road and was waiting for police to arrive when he was struck, according to reports.
Richardson was taken by ambulance to Northwest Florida Community Hospital and was air-lifted from there to Bay Medical Sacred Heart in Panama City. He died at 11:08 p.m.