Duval County

ONLY ON: Drunk driver who fled police turned in by teen who convinced him to get into his truck bed

ARLINGTON, Fla. — A Jacksonville man is now facing several charges in connection to two hit and run crimes in the Arlington area.

A man driving a red, Ford Mustang approached a large group getting together for a “car meet up” off of University Boulevard on Sunday.

He began driving erratically and crashed into several cars and motorcycles, according to a police report from the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office (JSO).

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“Several of my buddies who were his friends tried to ask him stop politely to get there information so they could exchange insurance information,” Jamie Weeks said.

The 18-year-old goes to these car events weekly. He said the group posts on Facebook where they’ll be meeting to show off their vehicles and hang out.

After hitting several vehicles at the car meet up, the driver then tried to leave in a hurry, plowing into several people in his way, according to JSO.

The man was later arrested and identified as 21-year-old Weliton Dias.

However, the encounter on University didn’t stop there. Dias sped out of the parking lot and later ended up crashing into the fence at Cam Automotive, taking down the fence and damaging an expensive vehicle in their lot.

Action News Jax reporter, Meghan Moriarty, obtained exclusive surveillance video that helps give you a visual of the chaos.

Dias then began running away on foot. Surveillance video from the rear of Cam Automotive shows him pacing back and forth near storage units before disappearing off camera. The owner of Cam Automotive told Moriarty that Dias caused about $40,000 worth of damage.

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The man was spotted at a local convenient store not too long after, according to JSO. Weeks was the one who spotted him

“I kind of convinced him,” Weeks said. “I was like, ‘yo you need to get out of here the cops are gonna arrest you.’”

Weeks told Dias to hop in the back of his truck, according to the police report, giving the suspect false sense that he was helping him escape police.

“We just drove him straight over here, and I told the cops, ‘hey he’s in my truck bed,’” Weeks said.

Dias was taken into custody. He was arrested and charged with five offenses, including leaving the scene of two crashes and driving intoxicated.