St. Petersburg, Fla. (970 WFLA) - State troopers have caught the man they accuse of a killing a man in a hit-and-run crash then stealing his car. Troopers arrested Dana Byrd, 30, at his home in St. Petersburg Friday, they said.
Dhimitri Andoni, 22, of Clearwater walked back toward his car after helping another driver who had lost control and slid into the median of I-275 in St. Petersburg Thursday night when the Florida Highway Patrol says that Byrd struck him with his pickup truck. Byrd got out of his truck, saw that Andoni had died, then got into Andoni's car and drove to a business, according to a news release from the FHP.
Andoni's father used GPS to track the car's location to Engineer Sales on 25th Ave. North and called police to report his son missing. Troopers found the Byrd's truck abandoned and Andoni's body at the scene Friday afternoon. Troopers arrested Byrd at his home on 51st St. North for Grand Theft-Auto and Leaving the Scene of a Crash Involving a Death.
They would like to talk to the driver whom Andoni helped, and hope he or she will call them at (813) 558--1800 or *FHP.
Dana Byrd from 2013 arrest. Photo courtesy of the Pinellas Co. Sheriff's Office.