MELBOURNE, Fla. – A man accused of a hit-and-run crash that put the victim in a hospital on a ventilator is now locked up in the Brevard County jail.
Melbourne police arrested Eugene Sturn, 54, at his workplace, LKQ Melbourne, on Friday.
Officers said Sturn hit a man along West Hibiscus Boulevard on May 15 and drove off, leaving the victim in critical condition with a broken pelvis, broken jaws and multiple other injuries which will require multiple surgeries to repair.
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Investigators said they were able to identify the make of the vehicle involved in the crash from debris left behind after the wreck. Officers then said they were able to spot the Spark on surveillance video from the area of the wreck.
A check of the license plate number showed the car was registered to Sturn.
When officers went to Sturn’s workplace to question him about the crash, they said they noticed damage to his car consistent with the hit-and-run crash but said some of it had been repaired.
Sturn admitted to hitting something on the night of the crash but claimed he did not know what he had hit, records show.
Officers said the man claimed his co-workers had done the repair work for him, but he had not asked them to do so.
Sturn faces charges of leaving the scene of a crash with great bodily harm, leaving the scene of a crash with property damage and tampering with evidence.
Records Monday showed he is still in the custody of the Brevard County jail on a $17,500 bond.