A Hernando man, whose driver’s license was already permanently revoked, was arrested Thursday after DNA evidence connected him to a serious hit-and-run accident in Ocala more than six months ago.
James Gardner Strickland, 56, of 2489B N. Lakefront Drive, was picked up by Ocala Police on an arrest warrant and charged with two counts of leaving the scene of an accident involving serious injury, one count of leaving the scene of an accident and driving while his license was permanently revoked.
The three-vehicle accident occurred on the evening of June 21 at the intersection of U.S. Hwy. 441 and County Road 326. Witnesses said a white Ford pickup pulling a trailer was traveling north on Hwy. 441 at high rate of speed when it rear-ended a silver Toyota 4Runner, causing it to overturn into a maroon Toyota Corolla. The driver and both passengers in the 4Runner were taken to Ocala Regional Medical Center with injuries, while the driver of the Ford pickup fled the scene, a Florida Highway Patrol report states.
A record check showed the pickup was registered to Strickland. Inside the vehicle, a Florida Highway Patrol officer noticed the airbags were deployed and the seatbelt was still buckled, indicating the driver likely was not wearing it at the time of the crash. She also found fresh, wet blood on the driver’s side airbag and door. In the bed of the pickup, she found an open cooler with six cold unopened Michelob Ultra bottles. Near the cooler there were two empty Michelob bottles and an empty Michelob Ultra can, the FHP report says.
The trooper was notified that the Marion County Sheriff’s Office had received a phone call from Strickland’s wife, saying he had called her and told her that he had been in an accident. She said he sounded panicked and frantic, and that she didn’t know where he was.
After going more than two weeks without locating Strickland, the trooper obtained a warrant to search the vehicle, and on July 10 she and an evidence technician from the Florida Department of Law Enforcement came away with photos and swabs from a blood stain. Strickland’s wife, who said she still hadn’t heard from him, provided a toothbrush and an electric toothbrush head to be used for a DNA comparison.
The DNA results came back on Nov. 2 and showed a match between the blood on the airbag and Strickland’s toothbrush, confirming he was the driver.
Strickland remained at large until his arrest Thursday morning. He was taken to the Marion County Jail, where he posted $16,000 bond Thursday evening. No court date has been set.