ST. AUGUSTINE, Fla. – A man was arrested after a bicyclist was injured in a hit-and-run crash Tuesday evening in St. Augustine, the St. Johns County Sheriff's Office said.
Matthew Goode, 45, of St. Augustine is charged with hit-and-run and making a false report.
Deputies said 33-year-old Nathan Tanner was riding a bicycle on Kings Estate Road just before 7 p.m. when he was hit by a vehicle.
John Parks, Tanner's roommate, told News4Jax that he jumped into action as soon as he heard about the crash.
"I missed a phone call from him and I texted him right back and I said, 'What's up?'' And he said, 'I got hit by a car. Could you come get me?' And it was a mile or two down the road, so I jumped in my car and hauled and got over there quickly," Parks said. "The road's very dangerous that he got hit on. There is no shoulder to get anywhere so I was just glad he was OK."
Tanner was taken to the emergency room of Flagler Hospital and then airlifted to UF Health Jacksonville, where he's currently in intensive care.
"He got hit so hard and it was on the back tire because the entire back of his bike was crushed in," Parks said. "(He has a) broken collarbone, three broken ribs and a punctured lung."
Deputies said about the same time as the hit-and-run, Goode called 911, telling dispatchers that he was carjacked.
When they arrived, deputies said, they learned that the carjacking did not actually happen. Deputies said that Goode admitted to abandoning his car after crashing into Tanner because he "got scared."
The same thing that Parks said his friend saw.
"The guy hit him and then going out and looked, and he wasn't moving, but he made eye contact with the guy and the guy jumped back in his car and took off," Parks said.
The roommate said Tanner is in good spirits, despite being badly injured. It's unknown when he will be released from the hospital, but Tanner is looking into legal options, according to Parks.
Goode was booked into the St. Johns County Jail and ordered held on $7,500 bond.