State troopers have arrested a Summerville man in connection with a hit-and-run on Bacons Bridge Road late Sunday that killed a 60-year-old bicyclist.
Collin Vincent Kentrus, 19, of Summerville, was arrested Monday night and charged with leaving the scene of a collision involving death, said Lance Cpl. Bob Beres of the S.C. Highway Patrol. He was being held at Dorchester County Detention Center Tuesday morning pending a bond hearing.
On Monday night, Kentrus went to the Dorchester County Sheriff’s Office claiming he had hit a deer the night before, Beres said. Sheriff’s deputies knew there was a fatal hit-and-run around the same time and alerted Highway Patrol investigators.
“We went and located the car at (Kentrus’) friend’s house and the damage wasn’t consistent with a deer strike,” Beres said. “We matched up some of the evidence we had to confirm that was the vehicle and this was the driver.”
Kentrus was arrested at the sheriff’s office a short time later.
Kentrus drove a 2003 red Toyota at the time of the collision, Beres said. Earlier Monday, troopers described a similar vehicle of interest: a red Toyota Corolla, model years 2002-2007, with damage on the right- or passenger-side headlight assembly, windshield wipers and right-side mirror.
“We found some evidence at the scene that linked us to the vehicle and model,” Beres said.
The victim of the hit-and-run was identified as Samuel R. Cox Jr., who lived on Bacons Bridge Road, according to Dorchester County Coroner Chris Nisbet.
Authorities were alerted to the victim’s body Monday morning after a passing motorist spotted him in a ditch next to the roadway about 6 a.m., Beres said.
Cox is believed to have died Sunday night after he was hit sometime before 11 p.m. while riding his bicycle between Tasker and Tyvola drives. About 10 p.m. Sunday, a motorist reportedly saw a mangled bike in that same area. Cox was pedaling the bike against traffic — toward S.C. Hwy. 61 — when he was hit, Beres said.
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Contact Michael Tannebaum at 873-9424 ext. 215 or mtannebaum@journalscene.com