Man fleeing accident killed teen in second hit-and-run: Cops

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Edgardo Joel Rosado Perez (Falkenburg Road Jail) and the scene where he allegedly struck and killed a high school student Wednesday (WTSP screenshot)

A 41-year-old man in Florida is accused of killing a 18-year-old pedestrian, fatally striking the high school student as he was speeding away from the scene of another accident.

Edgardo Joel Rosado Perez was taken into custody on Wednesday and charged with one count of leaving the scene of a crash with a fatality, records reviewed by Law&Crime show.

According to a news release from the Florida Highway Patrol, Rosado Perez at about 7:15 a.m. was in his 2018 Hyundai sedan and had just dropped off his 18-year-old daughter at Bartow High School when he was involved in a minor crash with a Chevrolet SUV and immediately fled the scene. Bartow High is about 45 miles east of Tampa, Florida.

The driver — who authorities later identified as Rosado Perez — was fleeing northbound on Jackson Street and approaching Pearl Street “at a high rate of speed” when he struck an 18-year-old male student who was walking to school.

After allegedly striking the teen with his vehicle, authorities say Rosado Perez again fled the scene. The Barstow High School student, identified as Zachariah Clabough, died as a result of his injuries.

Investigators with Florida Highway Patrol say they were able to track the Hyundai sedan back to Rosado Perez’s home on Polly Lane in South Lakeland, where troopers say they found the vehicle parked inside of his garage. Troopers say they soon learned that Rosado Perez had come home after the two alleged hit-and-run incidents and then departed again, this time driving his other car, a blue 2017 Ford Fiesta.

Authorities were able to locate the Ford Fiesta in a parking lot at the Brandon Mall, which is about 30 miles west of the high school. Troopers found Rosado Perez in the mall and placed him under arrest. He was transported to the Falkenburg Road Jail in Hillsborough County where he is currently being held without bond as he awaits transfer back to Polk County, records show.

According to The Ledger, one of the newspaper’s reporters went to Rosado Perez’s home after the hit-and-runs where they reportedly saw two troopers in the driveway and a dark blue Hyundai sedan in the garage. The report said the vehicle’s hood was “badly dented” and the windshield was “smashed, with a large hole on the driver’s side.” The troopers requested that the reporter not photograph the vehicle as it was involved in an ongoing investigation.

Taylor Smith, who lives on the street where Clabough was killed, told the Ledger that he heard the sound of the collision from his home and ran outside to see what had happened, but the car had already fled the scene. He told the newspaper that it appeared as if the driver had run a stop sign and sped away down Jackson, which has a posted speed limit of 25 mph.

A GoFundMe for Clabough’s funeral had raised more than $14,000 as of Thursday afternoon with the family saying, “Please help us give Zachariah a nice burial.”