by Nick Beres
MURFREESBORO, Tenn. - Police credit two Good Samaritans for helping put a hit-and-run driving suspect behind bars.
Fifty-five year old Gary Lockhart was charged with DUI, vehicular assault and leaving the scene on an accident. He allegedly struck an 18-year-old who was crossing the intersection of Tennessee Boulevard and Church Street.
"We heard the thump and looked in the rearview mirror and saw the debris," said Matt Thomas.
He and his father David then spotted a blue Ford Thunderbird driving from the scene with a shattered windshield. They made sure the teen victim was being helped by others. Then they went after the hit-and-run driver.
"If that was me laying in the road I would want someone to help," said Matt Thomas.
"There was no way he was going to get away. I was going to follow him as long as I had to follow him," said David Thomas.
The tracked Lockhart to a nearby hotel and watched him walk to his room.
"It was non-chalant, like he had pulled in from a night at church," said Matt Thomas.
They called Murfreesboro Police, who arrested Lockhart and confiscated his car.
"Officers found glass shards on his arms that link him to the crash at this intersection," said Kyle Evans with the Murfreesboro Police Dept.
Evans credits the father and son for helping crack the case.
"In this case they took things a bit further and followed the suspect which we don't always recommend, but in this case they did so safely," said Evans.
The 18-year-old victim is recovering from bumps and bruises, but no serious injuries.
Lockhart was held on $8,000 dollars bond.
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