A Boston man has been arrested by police just minutes after he was seen on an evening newscast confessing to being the driver in a fatal hit-and-run.
Local police said that an 80-year-old man was crossing the busy thoroughfare of Commonwealth Avenue just before 1:00pm on Wednesday.
The man, who has yet to be identified, was hit by a car, whose driver then sped away.
The victim was taken to a nearby hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
Phocian Fitts, a 23-year-old resident of Brighton, was tracked down by a reporter with WFXT-TV.
Phocian Fitts, a 23-year-old resident of Brighton, is seen above during an interview with a Boston TV station on Wednesday
Fitts was arrested by police just minutes after he was seen on an evening newscast confessing to being the driver in a fatal hit-and-run
‘I just want to say one thing right… accidents happen,’ he said.
‘I was listening to my music and as I was driving I was driving too quick… I was driving too quick to the point where I couldn’t really stop and it was a green light.
‘As the guy was walking, the light was green, I’m driving and pressing the horn, pressing the horn beep beep, it was either I was going to die and crash into a pole.
‘When it came down to it accidents happen,’ said Fitts.
He said he saw no reason to apologize because he didn’t do anything wrong.
‘Right now, I’m not worried about nothing, I’m not a stone cold killer.
Local police said that an 80-year-old man was crossing the busy thoroughfare of Commonwealth Avenue just before 1:00pm on Wednesday
‘I didn’t do nothing on purpose. People hit and run people all the time, it just happened to be an unfortunate situation where I was driving,’ said Fitts.
Police said that the man was in the pedestrian crosswalk when he was hit.
Fitts, however, makes no apologies for driving off after he hit him.
‘First off, I was scared and worried because I didn’t know what can happen, that’s why I left I said God forbid, I hope he’s OK,’ said Fitts.
‘I’m a real gangster… I’m a real gangster not in a bad way I’m a gangster because I help out the community and I look out for the youth.
‘I know that’s why everybody got my back my family. I’m not scared. it is what it is.’
The man, who has yet to be identified, was hit by a car, whose driver then sped away. The victim was taken to a nearby hospital, where he was pronounced dead. The image above shows Fitts’ Jeep being impounded by police
Investigators are combing through surveillance footage to corroborate Fitts’ claim that he had a green light.
Meanwhile, a witness to the hit-and-run described the scene as grisly.
‘I heard a loud bang then I saw a person in the air,’ a witness told WFXT-TV.
‘[The victim] had a pool of blood around his head.
‘There was a registered nurse there and she had been working for 20 years.
‘They were checking his pulse and checking his vitals and nothing,’ said a witness.
Investigators told the news channel that initially there wasn’t enough evidence to arrest Fitts.
It was only after seeing his comments on the newscast that they decided to arrest him.
Fitts is scheduled to appear in Brighton District Court, where he will be charged with motor vehicle homicide and leaving the scene of an accident after causing death.