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Deputy Freed From Car After Crash

January 3, 2006

An Orange County deputy sheriff was rushed to Orlando Regional Medical Center late Wednesday after being cut from his patrol car on South Orange Blossom Trail.

Trooper Kim Miller, a Florida Highway Patrol spokeswoman said that Deputy Ben Thorpe, 25, when responding to a back up call, was involved in a crash just before 10:45 p.m. with a dark, four-door, late-model Honda Accord that turned left into the southbound deputy's path near the intersection with 39th Street.

Officer Thorpe's car was so damaged that officer Thorpe had to be rescued by cutting his car.

The Florida Highway Patrol which is investigating the crash had not identified the Honda's driver yet.

VILLAGES MAN HELD IN DEATH OF PEDESTRIAN

Police arrested a driver in the Oct. 27 hit-and-run crash that left a pedestrian dead along U.S. Highway 441.

Charles W. Smit, 42, of The Villages was arrested Wednesday on charges of leaving the scene of an accident involving death, tampering with evidence and falsifying a police report. He was booked Wednesday in the Lake County Jail, where he was being held without bail.

On Oct. 27, Arnardo Torrent Jr., 23, was walking northbound on the east side of U.S. 441 just north of Edwards Road with a friend when a light-colored vehicle hit him and fled.

Arnardo Torrent died at the scene shortly before 1 a.m., police said.

Authorities got a tip about a car that may have been involved in the incident.

Officers found Smit's Oldsmobile at his home the next day and processed it for evidence.

Smit told officers Wednesday that he 'knew he struck a person' but was 'too scared' to stop, according to police.