Cell phone records ID hit-and-run suspect

A Marietta man gave four different locations for where his car was, but investigators became suspicious when none of them were true.

Daman Dye was arrested for lying to police, and then his cell phone records were subpoenaed, Officer Michael Smith with Smyrna police told the AJC.

Then, officers had no doubt Dye was the one responsible for a hit-and-run that seriously injured a Cobb County teenager, Smith said. Dye made a call on his phone about a minute after the July incident , and continued using his phone as he drove the car to Chattanooga, where it was later found. The calls tracked on cell phone towers placed him near the scene at the time.

Dye, 44, was arrested Tuesday after a three-month investigation, Smith said. Investigators linked Dye to the crime with the help of cell phone data, which placed him at the scene, Smith said.

“His cell phone made a phone call within one minute of the first 911 call," Smith said. From there, phone records tracked Dye's actions, which included driving his damaged car to Tennessee.

Campbell High School student Alex Langford, 17, suffered head injuries and a fractured pelvis when she was struck shortly after midnight July 17 in front of an International House of Pancakes restaurant on Cobb Parkway.

Langford apparently got out of a friend's vehicle to get a dog that had jumped out of the car, her father, Andre Langford, previously told the AJC. A car apparently collided with the car Alex was a passenger in, then hit Alex as it left the scene, he said.

The teen is still recovering from injuries, but is expected to make a full recovery, Smith said.

Days after the hit-and-run, police asked for the public's help in finding the white, Chevrolet Camaro believed to be responsible. A tip from the public led police to interview Dye, Smith said.

Dye was arrested on July 23 and charged with obstruction for giving investigators multiple false locations of the vehicle, Smith said.

"Cell phone data placed Dye at the scene of the incident and also showed where Dye had disposed of the vehicle in Chattanooga, Tenn.," Smith said in a statement Wednesday.

Dye, of Marietta, has been charged with hit and run, serious injury by a vehicle, and duty to report an accident, Smith said. Dye was booked into the Cobb County jail, where his bond has been set at $20,000.