TAMPA (MH) — A 27-year-old man was killed in a hit-and-run crash while helping his younger brother who broke down on the side of the highway, Florida Highway Patrol said.
The driver accused of hitting him, identified as 23-year-old Noah Alexander Riley of Campbellsville, Kentucky, was caught while changing a tire at a gas station, according to Florida Highway Patrol.
Riley was arrested and charged with leaving the scene of a crash involving a death in the late-night crash on Interstate 75 in Tampa, highway patrol said in a news release. A 25-year-old man with a tractor-trailer was driving north on the highway April 8 when the semi broke down, and he pulled over onto the outside shoulder, authorities shared April 9. His 27-year-old brother from Ocala drove to the scene and pulled over on the shoulder in front of the semi, then got out to help, according to state troopers. Riley was driving a Ford F-350 and towing a cattle trailer on I-75 when he drifted onto the shoulder and first hit the disabled semi, then hit the older brother who had come to help, investigators said. Riley fled without stopping as the 27-year-old died at the scene, according to FHP. First responders reported arriving at about 11:30 p.m., and the search for Riley began.
A state trooper eventually found him at a gas station changing a tire and arrested him, according to FHP.
He was booked in Hillsborough County jail.
By OLIVIA LLOYD/Miami Herald
Olivia Lloyd is a National Real-Time Reporter for McClatchy covering the Southeast. She is based in South Florida and graduated from Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism. Previously, she has worked for Hearst DevHub and the South Florida Sun-Sentinel.
