Duane Lockett {BSO}
By Ryan Yousefi
A nearly month-long investigation led to the capture and arrest of a man that allegedly fled the scene after striking a pedestrian in the parking lot of a Coral Springs grocery store with his vehicle, causing serious injuries.
On February 19, the Coral Springs Police Department received a report that a pedestrian was struck by a vehicle in the rear parking lot of the Key Foods Supermarket (formerly Bravo) located at 10301 Royal Palm Boulevard.
According to the report, witnesses and security footage show the victim was walking north on Northwest 102nd Avenue when she was hit by a 2001 Dodge Ram 1500 as it made a right turn into the parking lot entrance from Mullins Park.
After a lengthy investigation — including a plea on social media for the community’s help in identifying the owner of the vehicle — the driver of the vehicle was determined to be Duane Lockett, 51, of Lauderhill.
{Coral Springs Police}
According to video surveillance recovered by the CSPD from Key Foods, Lockett’s vehicle stopped briefly after striking the victim before reversing and making a left-hand loop around her before turning into the parking lot entrance.
The report states Lockett’s vehicle then circled around the east side of the Key Foods building before exiting the parking lot from the front entrance area.
According to the arrest report, the victim was knocked unconscious by the collision and was found to have suffered a brain bleed after being examined by doctors at Broward Health North.
Officers noted in the report that Lockett’s fled the scene without checking on the victim or reporting the collision. The victim was unable to provide a description of the vehicle or driver, but after reviewing video evidence, investigators were able to identify the vehicle as a 2001 Dodge Ram 1500 with a unique lightning bolt-style stripe down the side and a newer model (2003+) Ram wheels.
A lead was developed from a community tip received, and the vehicle was later found unoccupied in the Parkside Townhomes near the 2500 block of NW 99th Ave.
Detectives watched the vehicle until Lockett entered it and left the area, at which point patrol officers conducted a stop on March 8 for violations including an expired tag and a broken taillight.
During the stop, Lockett claimed that he was not aware he had hit anything and speculated that it may have been a pothole. However, the video evidence showed that he stopped abruptly, reversed, and steered to the left to go around whatever had caused him to stop.
Lockett was arrested and transported to the Broward County Main Jail where he was later released on a $26,000 bond.
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