BARTOW, Fla. — A Lakeland man was arrested for killing an 18-year-old Bartow High School student in a hit-and-run crash on Wednesday morning, according to the Florida Highway Patrol.
Edgardo Joel Rosado Perez, 41, was arrested Wednesday afternoon.
Troopers say Perez dropped off his 18-year-old daughter at Bartow High School before he was involved in a minor crash. He reportedly fled the scene in a 2018 Hyundai sedan northbound on Jackson Street.
When Perez was approaching Pearl Street "at a high rate of speed" around 7:15 a.m., FHP says he hit an 18-year-old male student who was walking to school.
Perez drove away, and the student died at the scene of the crash, a news release from FHP says.
That student has been identified as Zachariah Clabough. His family has set up a GoFundMe to raise money for funeral expenses.
The Hyundai was later located at Perez's Polk County home where troopers say they learned that Perez fled in his other car, a blue 2017 Ford Fiesta. The blue car was found parked at the Brandon Mall, and Perez was found inside the mall.
Polk County Public Schools said they are providing assistance to the high school and counselors are on campus.
Perez was booked into the Hillsborough County Jail for leaving the scene of a fatal crash.