Flagler Sheriff's Office employee victim of hit-and-run crash, man arrested

PALM COAST, Fla. - A Flagler County Sheriff's Office employee is recovering after he was hit by a car while riding his bicycle. Deputies said it happened Thursday night on Sesame Boulevard, and the driver took off.

Stephen Watkins, a communications specialist with the sheriff's office, was not seriously hurt in the crash. He is paralyzed from the chest down and was riding a hand-pedal bicycle at the time of the crash.

Brian Finn, a sheriff's office commander, was one of the deputies who responded to the crash.

"When we get a hit-and-run involving somebody on a bicycle or a pedestrian, obviously the stakes are higher for injuries and the potential for much more serious injuries, then learning it was one of our colleagues was nerve-wracking," Finn said.

After a search lasting a few hours, deputies arrested Andrew Croswell, 35, and charged him with the hit-and-run crash.

He was the passenger in a red Ford Focus hatchback stopped Thursday night. The sheriff's office shared a picture with FOX 35 News showing scrapes to the car's right front fender, which it said came from the hit-and-run.

Croswell explained to deputies that he got the damage to the right side of the car after he "hit a curb."

"I accidentally swerved off," Croswell said on body-worn camera video showing the traffic stop. He said he didn't report the incident because "it wasn't that much damage."

Deputies got a description of the driver, the car, and its license plate from witnesses. Deputies stopped at Croswell's house, but he wasn't home.

"We didn't know if we were going to see him again before the end of the shift," Finn said. "To find that vehicle still on the roadway, actually coming back from Volusia County, was a lucky break for us, and we were glad to have gotten him."

Just minutes into the traffic stop, deputies say Croswell admitted to hitting the bicyclist but kept going because he didn't think it was a person.

"I didn't know," Croswell said. "It was an accident."

Croswell was charged with leaving the scene of a crash, but his arrest included felony drug charges as well. Deputies said he had meth inside​ him.

"It's between the cheeks," Croswell said. Deputies are then seen on video retrieving the meth.

Croswell bonded out Friday afternoon, but not before deputies said they discovered more meth during the booking process.

Sheriff Rick Staley released a statement in response Friday afternoon.

"Fleeing the scene of an accident is cowardly and illegal," Staly said. "In this case, the victim was a paralyzed man and a beloved member of the community and our team that was struck and left in the roadway. I commend the witnesses that stopped and called for help and the team effort that caught his pathetic driver."