Injured teen's missing earpiece leads to arrest of suspected hit-and-run driver – WFTV

The sheriff's office said a 15-year-old boy was riding his bicycle on Northeast Savannah Road near a convenience store Wednesday evening when he was struck by what was described as a silver Hyundai Santa Fe SUV, Treasure Coast newspapers reported.

According to the sheriff's office, the teen was wearing headphones when he was struck by the vehicle, the newspaper reported. One of the headphones “flew into the driver's SUV upon impact and became lodged under a floor mat inside the vehicle,” the sheriff's office said.

The earpiece allowed investigators to use geolocation tracking to locate the damaged SUV. Officers located the earpiece and damaged SUV behind Swing's Jensen Beach residence, Treasure Coast newspapers reported.

“When the child's head went through the side window of the rear passenger window, his (earphone) came loose and fell into the car,” Martin County Sheriff William Snyder told WPEC -TV. “And then this tracking device that we have with our phones for this type of technology, we located the vehicle.”

It is unclear if the teen heard the vehicle approaching him.

Police arriving at a Jensen Beach residence said “someone tried to hide” the damaged SUV behind the home, WPTV reported.

Swing was inside the residence and allegedly told officers he expected them to “show up at some point,” the sheriff's office wrote on Facebook. The suspect then provided a full confession, deputies said.

“This is an unusual way to locate a hit-and-run suspect, but it worked,” the sheriff’s office wrote.

According to the social media post, Swing told investigators he “started to panic” and left the teen on the side of the road because he had already served prison time for drugs.

Florida Department of Corrections records show Swing was convicted in St. Lucie County in 2018 and was released from prison in June 2021 for convictions related to cocaine trafficking, marijuana possession and felony being a felon in possession of a firearm, Treasure Coast newspapers reported.

According to the boy's mothers, the teen was treated for his injuries and released from St. Mary's Hospital in West Palm Beach on Friday, according to WPTV.

“I think the family will definitely feel some justice, but we can't undo what happened,” Snyder told the TV station. “I think the real issue here is that he left an unconscious child in a dark parking lot and drove off.”