A motorist who fled a Sunday night wreck that left a motorcyclist dead was arrested after being followed for several miles by a witness to the fatal crash.
According to DeKalb County jail records, Toney Smith, 60, was charged with hit-and-run, driving under the influence of alcohol, driving with a suspended or revoked license and making an improper left turn in the crash that DeKalb police said killed Jose Santiago-Maldonado, 30.
The wreck happened at the intersection of Moreland Avenue and South River Industrial Drive in DeKalb County, Channel 2 Action News reported.
L.C. Wheat told the station that he witnessed the crash between a motorcycle and a Chevrolet Camaro.
“I’m looking at him like, wow, he don’t see this bike, and before I knew it, the bike was in the air,” said Wheat, who told Channel 2 he was sitting at the traffic light when the northbound car turned into the southbound motorcyclist’s path.
When the driver of the Camaro kept going, Wheat followed the car.
“I took it to heart,” Wheat said. “You can’t hit a guy on a motorcycle and leave him in the middle of the street and keep going, that’s foul play, that’s no good.”
Wheat called 911, then followed the suspected hit-and-run driver for several miles until police caught up with and stopped the other driver.
“He was basically saying it wasn’t him, but it was him,” Wheat said.
A judge set Smith’s bond at $315,000 — cash only, Channel 2 reported.
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