Hit and Run

LEESBURG, Fla—A Wildwood man has been released on $25,000 bond after being arrested for fleeing a crash that left a woman with a severely broken leg last month.

Freddie Southall III, 33, is accused of hitting a woman who ran into the roadway on Center Street, near North 15^th Street on Aug. 27, and fleeing the scene, according to an arrest affidavit. Court records identify the woman as Massie Williams, 39.

Following the hit-and-run, Leesburg Police Department located Williams at 3:22 a.m. and she was transported to Orlando Regional Medical Center with a “severely” broken leg. Police found vehicle parts at the scene that appeared to belong to a white vehicle and surveillance video from a nearby business showed a white sedan hit Williams after she ran into the roadway.

Using a license plate reader system, LPD identified the vehicle as a white Nissan Altima, and additional surveillance video showed the Altima turning onto Center Street less than one minute before the crash, the affidavit states. Through investigative techniques, police found the vehicle had several contacts with law enforcement, multiple addresses connected to it, and its “usual driver” was Southall, who was not the registered owner, the affidavit states.

Police canvassed the areas known to be connected to the vehicle and Southall, and two days after the crash, LPD found the Altima backed into the driveway of a home on Woodland Boulevard. The car had “significant damage” consistent with the vehicle parts found at the scene of the crash. As the officer stepped out of his vehicle. Southall exited the car and approached him. He denied any knowledge of the crash. The officer told Southall the car was being taken as evidence and Southall became “visibly nervous, began pacing and persistently asked to retrieve his property from the vehicle,” the affidavit states. After securing a search warrant on Sept. 2, police swabbed the driver area of the car for DNA, found 11.5 grams of marijuana, more than $5,000 in cash and four cell phones in the vehicle. A separate warrant was executed on the cell phones, and the results of that search were not yet available, according to the affidavit.

On Sept. 5, LPD contacted the registered owner of the Altima and informed her the vehicle was ready for pickup and when she arrived at the police department, Southall was with her.  He agreed to sit down for an interview.

During the interview, Southall reportedly made statements that officers wanted to blame him for the incident, and an officer explained the collision was not his fault and he didn’t want Southall to admit to something he didn’t do. The officer began asking specific questions and Southall explained he was traveling in between two houses when he believed he hit a dog or a racoon. He provided a sworn written statement, was arrested for leaving the scene of a crash with serious bodily injury and transported to the Lake County Jail, where he was released the next day.