A Highland City man was arrested Wednesday in connection with a February hit-and-run that left a bicyclist dead.

Gary D. Carroll, 46, is facing charges of leaving the scene of a crash with fatality and tampering with evidence.

According to the Polk County Sheriff's Office, Eric Wayne Pope, 32, was riding his bicycle in the early morning hours of Feb. 22 when he was hit from behind by a vehicle.

Pope, who was wearing a reflective vest and had lights on his bike.

"He had everything on," said Tammy Ritch, Pope's former roommate and family friend. "He had his vest on he had two lights on his bike, headlights and all the lights on his bike in the back. He was lit up."

Pope was thrown about 100 feet and landed in a ditch, before he was declared dead at the scene.

"He was a good man," said Ritch. "He worked, he lived for his daughter. He’s got a daughter out there who don’t got a dad"

Witnesses who reported hearing the crash described the suspect vehicle as possibly being a pick-up truck. Deputies said the following day, they received several tips that identified Carroll as the driver of a red 1985 Chevrolet pick-up truck, and provided information as to where the truck could be found.

Carroll's truck was found at a business on Fish Hatchery Road, deputies said. They said the truck's hood and headlights had been replaced. Carroll told the deputies he had hit a deer. The deputies were later able to find the original hood and headlights.

Investigators found paint chips from the crash and sent them to the FDLE laboratory for analysis. On Dec. 15, deputies received the results of the analysis, who matched a paint chip from the bumper of Carroll's truck to the paint on the back of Pope's bicycle, officials said.

Deputies went to Carroll's house on Dec. 17 with an arrest warrant, but when they arrived, they discovered he wasn't there and that he was expected to return later that night.

Deputies said that when Carroll returned to the home, family members told him he was being sought by law enforcement, so he fled from his house.

The deputies said they saw Carroll fleeing, and so additional units were called. They eventually found him in the area of County Road 540A.

Carroll was taken into custody and booked into the Polk County Jail. No bond has been set for his release.