Orange City, FL - A 23-year-old DeBary man is out on $15,000 bond from Volusia County Jail after police charge him in a fatal hit and run accident over the weekend.
Dallas J. Martin turned himself into the Volusia County Sheriff's Office less than an hour after 79-year-old Jean P. Monjoie died Saturday night (March 30th) on Saxon Boulevard near AdventHealth Fish Memorial.
Lieutenant Jason Sampsell with the Orange City Police Department tells us Martin was behind the wheel of a 2005 Chevy truck heading westbound on Saxon in the inside lane when the truck struck Monjoie as he was trying to cross Saxon on foot.
"As Monjoie neared the center median, he was [struck] by the front of Martin’s vehicle," Sampsell added. "Although he attempted to avoid the incident, [another] vehicle also struck Monjoie after he was struck by Martin."
The driver of that 2001 Jeep Wrangler stopped to help Monjoie - a resident of Acworth, Georgia - as did several other drivers in the area, per Sampsell. Some of them also called 911 to report the crash.
"Martin failed to stop after the impact and continued traveling westbound on Saxon Boulevard, fleeing the area," Sampsell noted. "Monjoie was pronounced deceased at the scene."
Around an hour later - and after OCPD asked neighboring law enforcement agencies to be on the lookout for Martin - he turned himself in at the VCSO office in DeBary, according to Sampsell.
"Martin confessed he was the driver that initially struck Monjoie," Sampsell stated. "He stated he panicked and became scared after he knew he hit a pedestrian, which was the reason for not stopping or notifying police."
Neither driver involved were injured in the crash, per the OCPD report.
Martin's charged with leaving the scene of an accident resulting in death. Additional charges are pending since investigators also took a blood sample from Martin to determine if alcohol or drugs were in his system at the time of the accident.
OCPD seized Martin's vehicle for evidence and plan to fully process it before the investigation is closed.
Anyone with information on this incident is asked to call OCPD Traffic Homicide Investigator Officer Brian Kibbe at 386-775-9999.
