Man charged in hit-and-run that killed woman who ran onto Florida's Turnpike

A Mount Dora man has been charged in the hit-and-run crash that killed a woman who ran out onto Florida's Turnpike earlier this month.

• Mount Dora man, 77, charged with hit-and-run involving death
• Karissa Hilts of New York killed March 8 on Florida's Turnpike
• Troopers say she ran onto road to retrieve cell phone
  

James Montgomery Preston, 77, was arrested Sunday morning by the Florida Highway Patrol and faces charges of hit and run and failing to remain at a crash involving a death.

FHP investigators said in an arrest report that Preston was driving a red Honda van that left the scene of a crash that killed Karissa Hilts, 29, of New York on the evening of March 8.

Troopers said Hilts was the passenger in a vehicle that had pulled over on the side of the turnpike, near the Interstate 4 interchange, after Hilts' cell phone went out the window.

Hilts ran out into the roadway and was struck and killed, according to several witnesses. At least two witnesses identified a red Honda as the vehicle that struck Hilts and provided a Florida tag number.

When investigators found the vehicle, it had damage consistent with what was found at the scene of the crash, troopers said.