17-Year-Old Suspect Arrested In Shawnee Deadly Hit-And-Run

A 17-year-old suspect has been arrested in connection to a hit-and-run crash that killed a utility worker in Shawnee, Oklahoma.

"The suspect in the fatality hit and run from last week, in the last 10 minutes, turned himself in," said Detective Jason Crouch with the Shawnee Police Department.

This happened around noon Wednesday.

According to police, the crash happened about 1:30 p.m. on Wednesday, August 24, near Kickapoo and Westech Road. The vehicle, described as a white truck with a black flatbed, was traveling north on Kickapoo when it tried to pass another vehicle. It then hit a 63-year-old utility worker who was standing on Westech, police said.

The utility worker, later identified as Earnest Reynolds, died. The truck then left the scene.

Police said they found the vehicle just north of Shawnee after a tip came in.

Detectives wanted to question the 17-year-old suspect. They spoke to his grandmother and father. The suspect's dad told police his son would go into the station for questioning, but the boy never showed up. In the following days, police discovered that the teen driver got a lawyer.

After days of trying to locate the teenager, back and forth with the father and lawyer, Crouch said they had enough and issued an arrest warrant for the juvenile.

On Wednesday, he turned himself in. Due to his age, police are not releasing his name. He will remain in the juvenile detention center, Carter Hall, until his court date. 

The 17-year-old has been charged with vehicular homicide and leaving the scene of an accident involving death.

"This was just a very tragic accident," said Crouch.