Gainesville Police arrested a local man Sunday after he allegedly hit a pedestrian with his car and attempted to run over three others.
Twenty-year-old Darrick Anthony Parker was driving west on Southwest Second Avenue about 3 a.m. when three men started to cross the road.
Filipe Antonio Hernandez, 23, tried signaling the car to slow down, said one of the witnesses, who asked to remain anonymous.
When the car drove by, Hernandez hit the mirror, one of the men said.
Parker stopped the car in the road and got out, according to the arrest report, and began fighting with Hernandez.
“Fists were up,” one of the men said. “They were swinging at each other.”
Parker got back into the car and drove away, but he made a U-turn and came back, one of the men said.
Parker drove onto the sidewalk toward the men at about 35 miles per hour, according to the report. The men jumped behind a clump of trees and narrowly avoided getting hit.
Then, Parker drove back onto the road and struck Yatrik Vijaykumar Solanki while he was running across the street. Parker did not stop to help him, according to the report.
Officers stopped Parker in the 700 block of Southwest Fourth Avenue, according to the report, and a witness identified him.
Parker told officers he didn’t intend to hurt anyone, and he said he was sorry if he did, according to the report.
Parker was arrested on charges of a crash involving personal injury-failure to stop and aggravated assault. He was booked into the Alachua County Jail about 4:30 a.m.
He was later released.
Contact Kelcee Griffis at kgriffis@alligator.org.
