Missing earbud leads deputies to man accused of hitting teenage boy with an SUV

JENSEN BEACH − A teenaged boy’s earbud that was knocked free when he was struck Wednesday by an SUV while bicycling at night, helped investigators track down the Jensen Beach man charged Friday with multiple offenses, according to Martin County sheriff’s officials.

The 15-year-old boy, who was riding on Northeast Savannah Road, was flown to St. Mary's Medical Center in West Palm Beach after being struck Wednesday by what was described then as a silver Hyundai Santa Fe.

The teenager is expected to recover from his injuries, sheriff's spokeswoman Christine Christofek said Friday.

Peter Bradford Swing, 49, of Jensen Beach, was arrested Friday by members of the agency’s “Hit and Run Task Force,” charging him with leaving the scene of a crash with great bodily injury, sheriff’s officials said.

The crash occurred near a Cumberland Farms gas station at 2001 N.E. Savannah Road north of Stuart.

The injured boy was wearing earbuds when he was struck and one “flew into the SUV upon impact and lodged under a floor mat inside the vehicle,” sheriff’s officials stated in a social media post.

That missing earbud provided investigators the ability to use geo-tracking to locate the damaged SUV behind Swing’s home in the 13000 block of South Indian River Drive, in Jensen Beach.

When deputies arrived, they determined someone was trying to hide the SUV involved in the crash behind the house. The passenger side of the vehicle had “damage and a smashed-out back window as deputies suspected it would,” sheriff’s officials said.

Swing was located inside the home and told deputies he “expected them to show up at some point, then provided a full confession into the crash.”

He told investigators he panicked because he had served time in prison on drug charges, so he fled the scene, leaving the injured boy on the side of the road.

Florida Department of Corrections records show Swing was convicted in St. Lucie County in 2018 and was released from prison in June 2021 for convictions related to trafficking cocaine, possession of marijuana and being a felon in possession of a gun.

It was unclear Friday whether Swing had an attorney representing him.

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Melissa E. Holsman is the legal affairs reporter for TCPalm and Treasure Coast Newspapers and is writer and co-host of "Uncertain Terms," a true-crime podcast. Reach her at melissa.holsman@tcpalm.com. If you are a subscriber, thank you. If not, become a subscriber to get the latest local news on the Treasure Coast.

This article originally appeared on Treasure Coast Newspapers: Missing earbud leads deputies to man accused of hitting boy with SUV