ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — St. Petersburg Police announced Thursday they made an arrest for a 2021 hit and run crash that took the life of a Pinellas County grandfather.
Police arrested Danzel Rashard Hammonds, 31, on charges of leaving the scene of a crash involving death and tampering with physical evidence.
The crash happened on October 3, 2021 around 9:30 p.m. Police said Hollis Heatherley, 59, was trying to cross 1st Avenue North in the crosswalk at 16th Street North when he was hit and killed by a small, black sports car that sped away from the scene.
Heatherley's family told ABC Action News last year that he was killed just three days before his birthday and three days before his fourth grandchild was expected to be born.
Police said the damaged vehicle lost several parts at the scene and those parts helped them track down the car, a Scion FR-S that was registered to Hammonds.
ABC Action News dug up the numbers and found out Florida and Tampa Bay are hot spots for hit and run crashes. As of late 2021, there had been 71,991 hit and run crashes across Florida killing 190 people. 14,534 of those were in Tampa Bay, killing 34 people.
