Walker killed by tow truck, FHP says

The driver is charged with leaving the scene of the accident on Seminole Boulevard. Troopers say a car also hit the 54-year-old pedestrian and didn't stop.

By CHRIS TISCH, Times Staff Writer
© St. Petersburg Times
published October 1, 2002

LARGO -- A tow truck driver has been arrested on charges that he left the scene of a fatal accident on Seminole Boulevard early Sunday.

Jim A. Heyes, 40, was arrested Monday on charges of leaving the scene of fatal crash. He was being held at the Pinellas County Jail on Monday in lieu of $20,000 bail.

Florida Highway Patrol troopers say Heyes was driving on Seminole Boulevard about 1:45 a.m. Sunday when a man walked in front of his 2000 International tow truck. The truck hit the pedestrian just south of Walsingham Road, killing him.

Heyes and the driver of another car, which also struck the pedestrian, did not stop, troopers said.

The pedestrian, a 54-year-old man whose name troopers declined to release Monday, died at the scene, Lt. Sterling King said.

Troopers received a call from a woman who said she was a passenger in a tow truck that struck a pedestrian. The woman told troopers that the driver of the truck was Heyes, King said.

"The female probably didn't feel right about it and apparently called," King said.

There also was a third person in the truck, whom King identified as Newton Boyd, 41.

Troopers found Heyes at a bar late Sunday or early Monday and arrested him. No one else was reported arrested, King said.

Troopers booked Heyes into the jail early Monday.

An arrest report indicates Heyes was not at fault in the crash, but that he broke the law by not stopping. He drank alcohol both before and after the crash, an arrest report states.

-- Chris Tisch can be reached at 445-4156 or tisch@sptimes.com.

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