Man in pre-trial diversion agreement arrested for allegedly hitting a pedestrian, leaving the scene, and falsely reporting his vehicle stolen

Staff report

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Meleek Alexander Stevens, 22, was arrested yesterday and charged with leaving the scene of a crash involving serious personal injury; making a false report that his vehicle was stolen; and driving with a suspended license, resulting in serious injury.

At about 6:09 p.m. on February 9, Gainesville Police Department (GPD) officers and rescue crews responded to a pedestrian who suffered life-threatening injuries while crossing SE Williston Road against the pedestrian beacon; the driver was no longer at the scene, but a witness reported that a gray older-model Nissan Altima had hit the pedestrian and then stopped briefly before driving away.

The victim reportedly suffered a brain hemorrhage, facial fractures, a skull fracture, a liver laceration, a fracture in her spine and pelvis, a broken leg, a broken shoulder, and bruised lungs.

The witness said the victim crossed Williston Road in the southernmost crosswalk at the 400 block, against the pedestrian beacon, and was hit in the curb lane; when the vehicle hit her, she flew into the air and dropped onto the asphalt. The witness said the gray Nissan stopped briefly, and he heard a female voice say, “I think you just hit somebody.” He said the vehicle drove away northbound.

Gray paint chips were collected at the scene, along with a vehicle part that came from a Nissan vehicle.

On February 11, a witness called law enforcement to report a “very damaged vehicle” with no license plate that was parked at a vacant residence near his home; he said he believed someone was trying to “hide” the vehicle. The witness lived about seven blocks from the crash.

An officer responded to the address and found a gray Nissan Altima with a damaged front end, hood, and windshield; the vehicle was registered to Stevens and had been reported stolen about 2.5 hours after the crash.

Stevens allegedly reported the Altima stolen at about 8:45 p.m. on the day of the crash and said he noticed it was missing when he came home from work. He reportedly told the officer that he had removed the license plate in January, when he learned that his license was suspended.

In a phone interview on February 16, Stevens reportedly said he had stopped paying his automobile insurance in December, and he was stopped by a law enforcement officer on January 22, which is when he found out his license had been suspended. He said he parked the Altima at his home and had not driven it since that date. He also reportedly admitted to the officer that he had not been at work when the car was stolen and instead had been “hanging” with his cousin.

GPD reported that traffic cameras showed the Altima being driven around southwest Gainesville between January 23 and February 8, and surveillance video from Stevens’s workplace also reportedly showed the vehicle parked at the business (with the license plate attached) on multiple dates during that period; the video from his workplace also reportedly shows Stevens getting out of the driver’s seat and walking into work.

A search warrant was executed on the Altima on February 17, and the paint chips found at the scene of the crash were found to be a match to the Altima.

Officers reviewed surveillance video from various sources that enabled them to construct a timeline: video from an RTS bus shows the Altima turning east from South Main Street at 6:08 p.m., and then both vehicles turn onto Williston Road, where the Altima picks up speed and hits the victim just before the bus arrives at the scene of the crash.

Surveillance video from two nearby gas stations reportedly shows the Altima hitting the pedestrian and then stopping for about 25 seconds before fleeing at a high rate of speed.

A search warrant for Stevens’s cell phone records reportedly produced evidence of his phone leaving his home at Lexington Crossing Apartments at 5:54 p.m. and moving in the direction of the crash; at 6:10 p.m., his phone was in the area of the crash. At about 7:05 p.m., his phone moved toward his home, and he arrived home at 7:11 p.m. He also reportedly called a friend four minutes after the crash and then called him again, about seven minutes later.

At about 6:36 p.m., a vehicle registered to the friend was captured by traffic cameras about 400 feet from the crash site, and Stevens’s cell phone was reportedly in the same locations as the friend’s vehicle for the next hour. Officers believe that Stevens called the friend to pick him up after the crash.

On May 13, Stevens was interviewed at GPD Headquarters, and post Miranda, he reportedly admitted to driving his vehicle at the time of the crash; he said he saw the pedestrian on the ground and fled because he was scared to go to jail. He said he parked the vehicle a short distance away, and he reportedly admitted to making a false police report that the vehicle was stolen because he was scared.

Stevens has been charged with leaving the scene of a crash involving serious personal injury, making a false report that his vehicle was stolen, and driving with a suspended license, resulting in serious injury. He has a juvenile conviction from 2022, and last July, he entered into a pre-trial diversion agreement after he was arrested for domestic battery; the agreement deferred prosecution of the charge for 12 months if he complied with a list of conditions that includes refraining from breaking the law.

Judge Susan Miller-Jones set bail at $225,000.

Articles about arrests are based on reports from law enforcement agencies. The charges listed are taken from the arrest report and/or court records and are only accusations. All suspects are innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.