FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – A Crime Stoppers tip Monday led to the arrest of a suspect in a hit-and-run crash that injured a woman riding an e-bike near the Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport, according to the Broward Sheriff’s Office.
Ritchie Irwin Jacobs, 76, of Hollywood, is now facing a felony charge of leaving the scene of a crash causing serious bodily injury in connection with the May 31 crash in a tunnel in the 4500 block of South Federal Highway.
He’s accused of stopping briefly to help the victim, Margarita Lopez, back up on her feet, positioning her bike against the wall and then fleeing.
A woman in another car called 911.
“(He asked) if I was OK and then he told me I just got hit by a car,” Lopez told Local 10 News last Wednesday. “I am thankful he took me out of the road because I could’ve gotten hit by another car. He could’ve at least called 911.”
Deputies said Monday’s Crime Stoppers tip led them to Jacobs’ home, where they took him into custody.
Following his arrest by BSO Airport District deputies, Jacobs was held in the Broward Main Jail on a $10,000 bond as of Tuesday morning, according to online records.
He bonded out on Tuesday night but had nothing to say to Local 10 News’ Christian De La Rosa when asked if he was distracted, if he meant to leave the scene without calling for help or what his side of the story was.
A GoFundMe page was created to help Lopez with medical expenses.