MIDDLEBURG, Fla. – The family of a teen boy killed in a hit-and-run crash calls it a heroic act that led to a 22-year-old man's arrest in connection with the death.
A Middleburg man called police after he said he saw the person responsible for killing 13-year-old Brien Alvezios in late November.
Police were looking for a Jeep Grand Cherokee with front-end damage, and the Alvezioses' friend said he saw a vehicle that matched that description and followed it.
The friend called 911, and that call was released Tuesday. It helped lead to the arrest of Anthony Margadonna.
The chase ended in front of Middleburg High School with the friend on the phone with police. He said he followed the Jeep Grand Cherokee for about 10 minutes until officers got to him.
"He's our hero and he'll always be my hero," Jenny Alvezios, Brien's mom, said of the family friend.
Two days after Brien was killed by a hit-and-run driver, the friend said he just happened to see a Jeep with front-end damage driving next to him on Blanding Boulevard. He and his girlfriend followed the vehicle.
Investigators sent Margadonna's Jeep to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement for processing, and when the results came back, they arrested Margadonna about a month after the crash.
The Alvezioses say time is not making it any easier for them.
"People say it gets easier, but it's really not easing for me," said Kati Alvezios, Brien's sister. "I dreamed about him last night though and that felt good."
But the pain they're enduring is still unbearable.
"I love you Brien and I miss you so much," Jenny Alvezios said.
Brien's funeral will be held at 1 p.m. Saturday at Branan Field Baptist Church.