WEST MELBOURNE, Fla. —
A West Melbourne shop owner was arrested Tuesday after police said he intentionally hit a juvenile with his car after the juvenile broke into his business.
It happened at 4:30 a.m. when officers were dispatched to the Corner Store, a vape shop on S. Wickham Road, in reference to a possible burglary in progress
Officers arrived within four minutes and made contact with the store owner, 32-year-old Kavan Vishnubhai Patel, the department said in a Facebook post.
Patel told officers he got an alert from his alarm company and saw on the store’s “closed-circuit video surveillance system” that the front glass door had been broken.
Police said Patel reported seeing a male wearing a light-colored hoodie leaving the area on an electric bicycle.
During the search, officers located a male matching the reported description lying along the side of the roadway.
“The individual appeared to have been struck by a vehicle,” the department said.
Officers determined the individual was a 14-year-old juvenile, who was transported to a local hospital in critical condition.
“During the investigation, detectives determined that Patel had intentionally struck the juvenile with his vehicle, left the scene, and returned to the store,” the department said. “Patel withheld this information from responding officers and did not disclose his involvement until confronted by detectives. As a result, the juvenile remained on the side of the roadway for nearly an hour without medical assistance due to Patel failing to stop to render aid or notify Law Enforcement.”
Patel was charged with aggravated battery and leaving the scene of a crash involving great bodily injury.
Patel is being held at the Brevard County Jail with no bond.
>> This is a developing story and will be updated