LYNCHBURG, Va. – One man is in jail tonight after a deadly hit-and-run in Lynchburg over the weekend.
Charles Beaty, 24, of Tennessee, is facing felony charges after police say he hit and killed a 59-year-old Saturday night on Melinda Drive.
Melinda Drive is just off Wards Ferry Rd. by all the shopping centers, so it’s a pretty busy area. While neighbors say they didn’t see the hit-and-run, they’re no strangers to speeding on their street.
“To this day I don’t know the young man that was killed, but it’s very sad,” neighbor Carolyn Ford says. “The worst part is the person who did it didn’t even stop.”
Ford has lived in the area for more than a decade. She says it’s a pretty quiet area, but every now and then she hears the screeching tires of speeding cars.
“Traffic has gotten loud lately.”
On Saturday night, it cost one man his life. Police arrested another man Sunday.
“It seems like it would be more to tell you the truth,” another neighbor says.
The road is painted with 25 mile-per-hour speed limit signs and a warning of a hefty fine. It’s not a very long road and there are several roundabouts and speed bumps along the way, none of which seem to slow drivers down.
“They zoom up and down here,” one neighbor adds. “I don’t play in the street.”
And there’s another thing raising concern for neighbors — there aren’t any sidewalks.
“People walk this road, they exercise, they ride bikes, but they don’t compensate for darkness,” Ford says.
Neighbors say several families live in the area. They add more needs to be done before something like this happens again.
“Post signs, post troopers, do what’s necessary to slow it down,” Ford says.
Anyone with information or video from the crash is urged to call police.