A Bartow High School student was ki*lled in a hit-and-run crash on Wednesday, officials said.
The Florida Highway Patrol responded to a crash in the area of South Jackson Ave. and East Pearl Street at 7:15 a.m.
Troopers said a vehicle, driven by Edgardo Joel Rosado Perez, 41, of Lakeland, struck an 18-year-old who attends Bartow High School. The teen died at the scene of the crash.
The Highway Patrol said Perez was involved in a minor crash after dropping his daughter off at the school, and fled the scene. He took off at a high rate of speed before hitting the teen, and fled the second crash scene as well.
Taylor Smith was inside a home on Jackson Avenue when he heard the collision just before 7am.
“I was in the back of the house getting ready and I heard an impact, a vehicle hit something,” he said.
He said he saw a car race by, grabbed his keys and try to follow it.
He realized later the car he was trying to follow belonged to the first hit-and-run victim by the high school.
“That’s incredible to amplify something that could have just been sort of dealt with there and it spins this far out of control,” said Smith.
Perez’s vehicle, a 2018 Hyundai sedan, was found at a home in Polk County, and troopers learned Perez had left the area in a blue 2017 Ford Fiesta, which also belonged to him.
Perez and the vehicle were later found at the Brandon Mall.
Perez was arrested by FHP Troopers for leaving the scene of a fatal crash and was taken to the Hillsborough County Jail.
A spokesperson for Polk County Public Schools confirmed the boy attended the school and said counselors are on campus for any students who may need them.
The victim’s family identified him as Zachariah Mark Clabough. His sister said he already had his cap and gown and was getting ready to graduate. He was working at Arby’s to save up for a car.
She said their father was fatally struck by a vehicle when it crashed into a gas station four years ago.
