Brooksville teen dies in drag racing accident

BROOKSVILLE One got away uninjured. The other lost his life.

Two teenagers were speeding side-by-side shortly after 6 p.m. Thursday.

They were headed northbound along WPA Road in separate 1994 Honda Civics, according to the Florida Highway Patrol.

As both vehicles approached oncoming traffic, Paul Snyder swerved from the left lane to the right lane, troopers said.

His car clipped the front of Jonathon Parker’s car and both rotated clockwise off the east side of the road, according to an accident report.

Parker, 18, died after his car crashed into a tree. Snyder’s car struck a separate tree, but he was not injured. He got out of his car and fled before authorities arrived, troopers said.

Witnesses at the scene who knew Snyder provided troopers with his name, according to FHP. Snyder, 19, was contacted and returned to the scene of the crash.

Troopers said the teens were street racing.

Parker and Snyder were close friends, according to friends who knew both of them.

The two-lane rural road runs north and south and connects State Road 50 and Mondon Hill Road.

The 7400 block of WPA Road still looked like an obvious crash scene Friday morning.

Some of the bark was chipped off two oak trees and shards of glass and pieces of plastic, metal and window tint were lying in the grass. Two FHP crash scene investigators were on hand looking at the tire marks that stretched about 20 yards.

“People speed down here, but they don’t race,” said Liza Marshall, who was visiting a friend who lives within walking distance of where the crash took place.

She said she was stunned when she learned what had happened.

Her daughter was friends with Parker. Marshall used to see him at her house years earlier. She said he was mild-mannered and had an interest in dirt bikes.

“He was a good kid,” Marshall said.

Parker lived off Kibler Lane, a short distance from the crash site. A couple pulled out of the driveway at Parker’s home just as a reporter had pulled in front of the house Friday morning. They declined to comment.

A Hernando County School District official said Parker attended Endeavor Academy before being homeschooled. He most recently was enrolled at Nature Coast Technical High School for adult education classes.

Assistant State Attorney Bill Catto, who prosecutes vehicular homicide cases in Hernando County, said he was made aware of the accident.

The crash is being investigated by FHP and charges could possibly be filed after he reviews the case, he said.

Sgt. Andrew Batchelder, who oversees the traffic unit for the Hernando County Sheriff’s Office, said his agency doesn’t receive many complaints about drag racing.

“(Thursday’s) incident is more of an isolated incident,” he said.

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