Kavan Vishnubhai Patel, 32, now faces a murder charge after the 14-year-old boy he allegedly struck with his car died Saturday.
Hunter Russey was taken off life support over the weekend, West Melbourne police announced, days after the Florida store owner chased him down and knocked him off his e-bike in the early morning hours of Oct. 13. The teen had been found unresponsive in a roadside ditch around 7 a.m. That Tuesday, roughly two and a half hours after the collision, with multiple skull fractures.
Patel told investigators he received an alert about a break-in at his store and arrived to find someone fleeing on an e-bike around 4:30 a.m., according to an arrest affidavit. Rather than call police, he gave chase in his vehicle. He later admitted to detectives that he “intentionally struck him” because he was angry about the attempted burglary at his convenience store, charging documents state.
“He continues to follow him, doesn’t call law enforcement, doesn’t notify law enforcement that this is going on, and at some point runs into the bicyclist trying to stop him,” Lt. Graig Erenstoft, a spokesperson for the West Melbourne Police Department, told WESH.
Security footage allegedly captured Patel’s vehicle slamming into the child before crashing into a mailbox and trash cans. Patel told investigators he returned to the scene afterward to search for Hunter but could not locate him, according to the charging documents.
The store owner did eventually contact police — to report the burglary. He failed to mention the crash or Hunter’s condition, authorities said. The teen remained undiscovered in the ditch until a passerby found him clinging to life nearly three hours later.
Hunter was hospitalized in critical condition but never recovered. His family made the decision to end life support on Saturday.
“Despite this tragic outcome, Hunter’s family has made the decision to donate his organs so that he can improve the life and wellbeing of others,” police said in their weekend statement.
Patel was originally arrested on charges of second-degree aggravated battery causing bodily harm or disability and second-degree leaving the scene of a crash. Prosecutors upgraded the case to second-degree murder following Hunter’s death.
It remained unclear whether Hunter had actually been at Patel’s store that morning or attempted to break in, as the store owner suspected.
The case has drawn renewed attention to the dangers of vigilante responses to property crimes, particularly when suspects pursue individuals without law enforcement involvement. Patel’s decision to chase rather than call police, and his alleged failure to report the collision afterward, formed the basis of the initial charges against him.
The West Melbourne Police Department has not indicated whether additional charges or a federal civil rights review may follow.