JSO: Man hit 5 cars after dropping grandmother off at Food for Florida

Family members say man doesn't have driver's license

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – A 19-year-old Jacksonville man was arrested this weekend after calling 911 on himself following a series of hit-and-run crashes, the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office said.

Darrick Jimmy Lorenzo Nesmith was dropping his grandmother off at the Food for Florida event at the Regency Square Mall when he hit five cars in the parking lot while trying to leave, police said. 

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“He said he was carjacked at one point. Then he said he actually fell asleep at another point, and just accidentally hit the cars. Then he said he bumped into the cars,” Sheriff’s Office Lt. Steve Mullen said. “We confronted him with camera evidence that the mall has, and he said, ‘No. I hit the cars. I got scared, and I took off.’”

After Nesmith hit five cars in the parking lot, he took off on foot, went up an embankment and down the Arlington Expressway, ending up near a Walmart, police said. He then called for paramedics to treat some injuries, which investigators said he didn't have.

“Maybe he felt like he had an injury. His boots were covered in mud (and) he had a lot of stickers in his pants from running,” Mullen said. 

Investigators said family members told them Nesmith shouldn’t have been behind the wheel.

“Family members came here to pick up the other family member (grandmother) and were very upset that he was even driving,” Mullen said. “They said he shouldn't be driving (because) he doesn't know how to drive. That's evidenced by the carnage in the parking lot.”

Nesmith was charged with five counts of hit-and-run property damage and one count of driving without a license. His bond is set at more than $13,000.

He waived his first appearance in court Monday.