FLAGLER COUNTY, Fla. – A driver was found carrying meth following a hit-and-run crash on Thursday involving a bicyclist who is paraplegic, according to the Flagler County Sheriff’s Office.
Deputies said the crash happened around 5:54 p.m. near Sesame Boulevard, which is where a hand-pedal bicyclist was struck by a Ford hatchback that fled the scene.
According to the sheriff’s office, the bicyclist — Stephen Watkins — had previously contracted a life-threatening staph infection while working as a detention deputy at the FCSO, which left him paralyzed from the chest down. He suffered minor injuries and was taken to the hospital for evaluation, deputies added.
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Investigators said they tracked the Ford to a home in Palm Coast, which is where the owner — Andrew Croswell, 35 — reportedly lived. However, his parents told deputies that he wasn’t there, the release shows.
However, deputies were eventually able to find the Ford along US-1, and after pulling it over, they found the driver — Clara Smith, 48 — with Croswell in the passenger’s seat, according to the sheriff’s office.
Croswell claimed he drove the car when it struck the bicyclist, but he hadn’t stopped because he didn’t think he had hit someone, deputies said.
Despite the claim, the vehicle had damage consistent with the crash, investigators explained.
Body-camera footage of the traffic stop shows that when asked about the damage, Croswell told deputies, “I hit a curb.”
Deputies said they found a “crystal-like substance” in Smith’s purse, which was later confirmed to be methamphetamine, the release said. Deputies added that methamphetamine was also found “concealed” on Croswell’s body.
“It’s between the cheeks,” Croswell can be heard saying in the footage. He can then be seen trying to “jiggle it out” while handcuffed.
“What you don’t want to do is make us get it. That’s the hard do-not-make-us-do,” one of the reporting deputies tells Croswell. “Can you pick your butt with your hand?”
After “digging through his buttcrack” and with help from the deputies, the substance was ultimately recovered by investigators, the video shows.
[WATCH THE TRAFFIC STOP VIDEO BY CLICKING IN THE MEDIA PLAYER BELOW]
“Fleeing the scene of an accident is cowardly and illegal. In this case, the victim was a paralyzed man and a beloved member of the community and our team that was struck and left in the roadway,” Sheriff Rick Staly said. “I commend the witnesses that stopped and called for help and the team effort that caught his pathetic driver. I’m also glad that Stephen was not seriously injured.”
Croswell faces charges of leaving the scene of a crash, possession of methamphetamine, possession of drug paraphernalia and introducing contraband into an inmate facility. He is held on bond of $8,000.
Meanwhile, Smith faces charges of drug possession without a prescription, possession of drug paraphernalia, and possession of methamphetamine. She is held on a bond of $3,500.
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