Find Answers to Your Questions:

News You Can Trust for West Palm Beach Personal Injury Plaintiffs Like You

Florida Driver Kills Pedestrian, Leaves Accident Scene For a Beer

Posted on Jul 31, 2012

Running over a pedestrian may be hard to handle, but it is no excuse for leaving the scene to buy a beer. While this sounds like a scene from the Simpsons, a 21-year-old man did exactly that after he ran over a homeless pedestrian in Polk County.

At about 1:30 a.m. on Tuesday, July 17, 2012, Polk County Sherriff’s deputies responded to a report of a car crash at Deeson Road and Cherry Road in Lakeland. They found the body of a 51-year-old homeless man and his undamaged bicycle, and a drunk man who denied any knowledge of the accident.

The drunk man was 21-year-old Richard S. Schenfield. He told police that he had recently left his home to get cigarettes from a nearby Circle K convenience store. However, Schenfield’s 1997 Honda showed evidence of recent front-end damage. The officers became suspicious and, after a detailed inspection, they were able to link Schenfield to the crash.

In fact, what really happened is that Schenfield hit William Franklin “Frank” Moates earlier that morning. Instead of staying at the scene and calling for help, Schenfield drove to the Circle K where he bought a beer. Video surveillance footage from the Circle K shows Schenfield arriving in his Honda, getting out and looking at the front of the vehicle, and then entering the store where he bought a beer. After leaving the store, Schenfield checked the front driver’s side of his car again before returning to the scene.

Schenfield was arrested and charged with leaving the scene of a traffic crash with a fatality and failure to obtain a valid Florida driver’s license.