Driver in fatal hit-and-run calls 911 from home saying, "I'm the person that hit him"

POLK COUNTY, Fla. — A teenager was hit and killed by a driver early Sunday morning while he was walking along County Road 540-A in Polk County, deputies said.

Investigators said Blake Dowdy, 16, was walking with friends when Christopher Koenig, 29, hit the teen.

Koenig drove away, but about 40 minutes later, he called 911 from his home and confessed to hitting Dowdy, deputies said.

Authorities said Koenig had just left the Paddy Wagon Irish Pub in Lakeland, where he and a friend had been drinking, and as Koenig was driving he struck the teen with his Ford F-150 pickup truck.

Dowdy was launched 87 feet into the air and fell into a drainage ditch along the roadway, deputies said.

Witnesses said the truck didn't slow, stop or slightly brake after the impact, and sped from the scene.

According to the 911, Koenig also confessed to the dispatcher that he had been drinking before he got behind the wheel.

"He was in the middle of the road and I'm the person that hit him," said Koenig.

Koenig was later arrested at his house on charges of leaving the scene of a crash, involving death and DUI causing death.

Sheriff Grady Judd said "Christopher Koenig has taken the life of a teenaged boy because he refused to take a cab or get a ride home from the bar.  Now, he will have to suffer the consequences, and the Dowdy family will forever suffer from a tremendous loss," said Judd. "I can't stress this enough, do not drink and drive.  The damage that you cause when you do is irreparable and lasts a lifetime."

Deputies said they drew blood samples from Koenig, which were sent to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement lab for analysis.

WFTV