Glencove resident's security video shows Palm Bay hit-and-run

PALM BAY — Retirees Richard and Mary Webster installed their security system for the protection of their Glencove Drive home. 

But the exterior cameras for the house caught a glimpse of how unsafe it can be outside the home.

Just north of the Websters is the Emerson Drive intersection, where a hit-and-run driver struck a Discovery Elementary School student Thursday morning.

"Oh my God," Mary Webster uttered upon seeing the video. 

"I was amazed he hit the kid, backed up and drove around him," Richard Webster said. "He knew he hit that kid." 

More:School zone safety at issue in Palm Bay after 2 kids, 1 adult struck

Other witnesses saw the crash as well. They provided Palm Bay police with the details needed to track down Christopher Michael Charles Harris, 30, of the 1800 block of Pace Drive Northwest, Palm Bay, later that morning.

The 12-year-old boy was hospitalized with minor injuries, police said.

It was the second traffic incident that morning in Palm Bay involving children. At Odyssey Charter School, a motorist struck a man and his child at a crosswalk, police said. The traffic report for the case was not available Friday, but police spokesman Lt. Mike Bandish said the driver was charged with failing to yield to people in a crosswalk.

Officers found the Jeep Cherokee involved in the Emerson Drive crash at a home in the 1500 block of Giles Street Northwest, a few miles south of the crash scene. The Jeep belongs to Harris' girlfriend, according to his arrest affidavit. It had damage to the plastic bug guard and scuffs on the front bumper, officers said.

Police later Thursday morning found Harris at a home in the first block of Emerson and took him into custody. He was charged with leaving the scene of an accident involving an injury and driving while his license was suspended. 

Harris' bail was set at $6,000 at his first appearance via video in Brevard County court Friday. He remained at the Brevard County Detention Center in Sharpes. 

The intersection of Emerson and Glencove was also where a high school student was struck and killed earlier this year, police said. A makeshift memorial for 17-year-old Jasmine Monari remains at the southeast corner of the intersection. The Heritage High School student was killed in January walking home, police said.

The Websters said they saw the commotion outside their home Thursday morning, but didn't realize until hours later that it involved a hit-and-run and a child. They discovered in the afternoon that their surveillance system recorded the collision. 

They're concerned about the traffic situation at the intersection but said motorists and children alike have to take more caution.

"It's a combination of everything," Richard Webster said. "You have people on their cell phones and you have kids on their bikes who aren't paying attention to traffic any better than the people in their cars. But even if it wasn't the driver's fault, there's absolutely no excuse for driving away."

Police and city officials said they've been making improvements and adding manpower to school zones in light of the school-related accidents earlier this year. 

More:School zone safety at issue in Palm Bay after 2 kids, 1 adult struck

More:Traffic needs pointed to other Brevard schools than Odyssey