GASTONIA, N.C. — Two months ago an SUV hit a man who was riding his bike on a stretch of Garrison Boulevard.
Police started their investigation with a camera in the intersection up the street and police were able to track their suspect to her front door, making an arrest this week.
Laketta English had never been in trouble before. But prosecutors say right before she hit and killed Cody Cochran in October, she moved quickly to conceal the crash.
“She booked an appointment with Safelite Automobile to replace her windshield,” said Chad Smith, a prosecutor.
He said she had the car washed. All that came after the investigators got a tip from a witness was an image of her SUV.
“We are in the public eye now,” said Skip Graham, the owner of Sky-Tech in Belmont. He is a surveillance equipment supplier, and is familiar with the camera system for the Gastonia Police Department’s Real Time Crime Center.
“You can access that information, highways all over the country,” Graham said.
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The prosecutor said days after the crash, investigators with Real Time Crime Center were able to track English’s SUV back to her neighborhood. Then a neighbor’s doorbell camera led them to their suspect’s home and the broken bumper.
“A piece of bumper on scene matched a piece of bumper to the underside of the vehicle,” said Smith. He also said English appeared to be wearing the same clothes in a camera video, video at the car wash, the neighbor’s doorbell video and her own home security.
“It sounds like they can pinpoint your every move. Is that correct now?” Channel 9’s Ken Lemon asked Graham.
“Yes,” he replied. “More so now than ever before.”
The judge decided to keep English’s bond at $500,000. Her attorney said she has cooperated with police and didn’t know she was wanted when a task forced arrested her Monday.
VIDEO: Gastonia police investigating fatal hit-and-run crash
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