A US motorist drove home with the legless body of a pedestrian in his front windshield before calling authorities to report that he had struck the man with his car, officials said.
Deputies first learned of the accident, which happened about midnight on Friday, from bar patrons who called to report finding two legs near the parking lot, according to sheriff’s reports.
With Joseph Markert’s torso lodged in his windshield, Daniel Dradeen (19) drove 1,6 kilometres to the home he shared with Ronald Brownie and Brownie’s son, who called the police emergency line, the reports showed.
Dradeen didn’t stop to report the accident because he didn’t have a cellular phone with him and Brownie’s home was only about a mile from the accident site, Brownie said.
”A guy coming through your front windshield tends to rattle you,” said Brownie.
Markert (57) was trying to cross a roadway in DeLeon Springs, about 65 kilometres north of Orlando, when he was struck, the Florida Highway Patrol said.
The medical examiner will determine if Markert survived the impact, but he likely died immediately, officials said.
Investigators believe the legs were severed by the impact with the car, not the windshield. One of Markert’s arms was also severed and was found with his torso in Dradeen’s blood-covered car, officials said.
Kim Miller, a spokesperson for the highway patrol, said Dradeen was not impaired and no hit-and-run charges will be filed. She said the case is under investigation.
”It’s the pedestrian’s fault. He was wearing dark clothing,” Miller said. ”The poor kid (Dradeen) was in the wrong place at the wrong time.” – Sapa-AP