INDIANAPOLIS -- An Indianapolis man has been charged with leaving the scene of a deadly incident where he reportedly crashed into an 87-year-old man riding a motor scooter on the northeast side of Indianapolis.
According to court documents, filed on Tuesday in Marion County, Mikhail Jefferson has been charged with one count of failure to remain at the scene of an accident resulting in death, a Level 4 felony.
On the afternoon of May 12, officers with the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department were sent to the area of E. 42nd Street and Arborcrest Drive on a hit and run crash. When officers arrived, they learned that 87-year-old John Stewart had been struck by a white vehicle that fled the scene after the collision.
Through witness accounts, they learned that a Buick struck the motor scooter and ejected Stewart from the scooter. The Buick was traveling east on E. 42nd Street, where there are no traffic signals or signs, and the motor scooter was traveling north on Arborcrest Drive, where there is a stop sign.
After the crash, the driver of the Buick, later identified as Jefferson, reportedly got out of the car and yelled for people to call 911. A few minutes later, the documents state that he got back into his car and drove away without providing information.
IMPD tracked down the vehicle through witness statements, videos and photos. The documents said that the Buick was originally registered under a family member of Jefferson. Through interviews, officials found that Jefferson was reportedly driving the car during the incident.
During an interview, Jefferson reportedly told police that he saw the motor scooter and when it pulled out in front of him, he tried to avoid a collision. Jefferson said his daughter was in the car and briefly checked in on her before he checked in on Stewart.
"He explained he was concerned about his daughter, and in a panic, he drove away from the crash site," the documents read. "(Jefferson) said he wanted to accept responsibility for his actions and said he was sorry for what happened."
On Friday, the Marion County Coroner's Office reported that Stewart was pronounced dead from "the blunt force trauma he suffered in the collision."