Codan Garrison Arrested; – A Tallahassee man is behind bars in connection to a hit-and-run in Leon County that left one woman dead last month.
Codan Garrison, 37, was arrested Friday morning and charged with a deadly hit-and-run that occurred on Blountstown Highway on a Sunday evening last month, resulting in the death of bicyclist Teresa Stitely, according to court records.
Garrison’s arrest comes a month after the Florida Highway Patrol announced that a person of interest had been identified and the vehicle involved in the hit-and-run had been located.
The 37-year-old’s arrest affidavit revealed that just two days after the deadly crash, FHP received an anonymous tip that a vehicle matching the description of the vehicle involved in the hit-and-run was possibly at a local car repair shop, per court papers. Authorities then responded to the business and spoke with the owner who police said confirmed that the vehicle was there at that time.
The vehicle allegedly showed damage and pink paint transfer, consistent with the color of Stitely’s bicycle at the time of the crash.
Shortly after, authorities asked the business owner who had driven the damaged vehicle, which led the owner to direct investigators to Garrison, who court papers said was an employee at the business. Moments later, law enforcement began interviewing the 37-year-old.
During the interview, Garrison told authorities that he was not on Blountstown Highway the day of the deadly crash.
But, once authorities told him that evidence collected during the investigation could prove that his statement was false, he allegedly “changed his story” and admitted to driving east on the highway, according to the court documents.
Garrison also admitted to “hitting an object that he believed to be a deer,” the affidavit revealed. Specifically, he told law enforcement that “he has hit ‘like 15′ deer in his lifetime and did not think he needed to stop,” per his arrest affidavit.
The 37-year-old suspect also told authorities that at the time of the crash, another person was in his vehicle
Garrison is expected to make his first court appearance Saturday.
