A hit-and-run spree over the weekend left seven cars smashed up and a New Port Richey man under arrest.
According to the Florida Highway Patrol, 43-year-old Lon Brown crashed into five different cars early Sunday while driving from 22nd Avenue North to the Howard Frankland Bridge.
- Lon Brown, 43, charged with carjacking, grand theft, DUI, hit-and-run
- FHP says he hit seven vehicles, including one on Veterans Expressway
- He is also accused of hitting woman with pipe before stealing her car
Troopers said he then hit a sixth car near Exit 39.
Tampa police investigated that incident and said when the owner of that car got out to exchange information, Brown hit her in the head with a pipe and stole her car.
Brown continued onto the Veterans Expressway, where he crashed for the seventh time that night, troopers said.
Cristina Pante said she was in her fiance’s truck on the way home from dinner when Brown rear ended them on the Expressway.
"It was raining really hard, and all of the sudden we just heard a really bad boom and our car went sideways," Pante said.
The couple, along with two other passengers, made it out safely. Pante said they then ran over to the other car to see if the driver was OK.
"By the time we got there, the gentleman was out of the vehicle and in handcuffs," Pante said.
Brown is charged with carjacking with a weapon, grand theft of a motor vehicle, several counts of hit-and-run and DUI.