A missing AirPod helped investigators in Florida track down a hit-and-run suspect who struck a 15-year-old on a bicycle in Martin County.
Lachlan Nichol was riding his bike Wednesday in Jensen Beach when an SUV hit him, according to the Martin County Sheriff’s Office. The impact of the crash caused Nichol to hit the passenger window, and one of the teen's AirPods fell inside the SUV and lodged under a floor mat.
Investigators were able to track the earbud to a specific address, where they discovered someone tried to conceal the silver Santa Fe involved in the crash behind the house.
The owner, 49-year-old Peter Swing, confessed to deputies that he was the one involved in the crash and he did not stop because he previously served prison time for drug charges and panicked.
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Swing was immediately placed under arrest and taken to the county jail.
"I think the family will undoubtedly feel some measure of justice, but we can’t undo what happened and I think the real sting here is that he left an unconscious child in a dark parking lot and drove away," said Martin County Sheriff William Snyder.
Family members said Nichols has left the hospital since and is now at home resting and recovering.
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Snyder said the crash was an accident, and if the suspect had stayed on the scene, he would have only been issued a ticket.
Swing is facing charges of leaving the scene of a crash causing great bodily injury, a second-degree felony charge.
