LAKELAND, Fla. — A 37-year-old Lakeland man was arrested this week on charges of hitting and killing a 74-year-old woman, fleeing the scene and then lying to troopers and his insurance company to hide what he had done, the Polk County Sheriff’s Office said.
Jarvis Kendrick was arrested Monday after investigators received an anonymous tip about his truck, which matched the description of the pickup truck involved in the incident, officials said.
Janice Joy was walking along Duff Road in Lakeland on Oct. 6 at about 6:30 a.m. when she was hit and killed by a passing vehicle.
Three days after the crash, Kendrick called the Florida Highway Patrol to report a crash where "he alleged he went off of the roadway and impacted a road sign on Interstate 4 east, just west of the McIntosh Road exit," an arrest affidavit said.
A witness described the vehicle, which fled the scene, as a dark colored pickup truck, much like the Ford F-150 owned by Kendrick, investigators said.
On Oct. 10, Kendrick reported the I-4 crash to his insurance company and took his truck to a Plant City repair shop, the affidavit said.
Investigators found that the crash on I-4 could not have caused the damage found on Kendrick's truck.
Surveillance video from an I-4 toll plaza taken on Oct. 7 also clearly showed damage to the truck was present two days before Kendrick called FHP, the affidavit said.
Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd said the whole situation could have been avoided if Kendrick, an area bank executive, had just done the right thing.
“Had Mr. Kendrick simply stopped and rendered aid to this victim, he would not have been charged with a crime,” he said. “Instead, he fled and then created an elaborate cover-up. Now he’s in jail facing a first-degree felony. It is extremely disappointing when anyone does something like this, but especially a leader in our community.”
Kendrick was charged with leaving the scene of a crash involving death and tampering with evidence.
He was being held at the Polk County jail in lieu of bonds totaling $50,000.