Boynton man faces vehicular homicide charge after stolen car hits, kills Lake Worth Beach man
A 40-year-old Boynton Beach man is facing a vehicular homicide charge after investigators say he stole a car from a repair shop and then struck and killed a man straddling a bicycle outside a house in Lake Worth Beach.
Corey Bell was speeding in the stolen Toyota hatchback on a street near Lake Osborne March 11 when the car hit a mailbox, spun out of control and struck 74-year-old James Beloian, according to a Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office arrest report made public Tuesday.
Beloian, who PBSO said lived elsewhere in Lake Worth Beach, died at the scene.
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County Judge Ted Booras set Bell's bail at $500,000 during a hearing Tuesday at the Palm Beach County Jail. The Palm Beach Count Public Defender's Office represented Bell. As a policy, it does not comment on open cases.
The crash occurred at about 2 p.m. March 11 near 12th Avenue South and Cochran Drive, a neighborhood of single-family homes on Lake Osborne's eastern shore.
Surveillance-camera video showed Bell and a passenger exit the Toyota Matrix and leave the area without attempting to render aid for Beloain, the report said. Two teenage passengers remained at the scene but did not identify the driver.
According to the PBSO report, an auto repair shop had reported the hatchback stolen four days before the crash.
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An employee who had reported the vehicle stolen identified Bell as the person who took the vehicle. But no immediate action was taken as neither the caller nor the employee nor the car's owner could provide the vehicle's identification number, PBSO said.
Investigators say that on March 11, the Toyota was seen speeding south on Cochran when it crossed into the northbound lane and went off the roadway. Bell lost control of the vehicle as he attempted to make a left turn and veered onto grass.
The car hit a wooden pole, then hit Beloian, who was straddling his bicycle near the northeast corner of a building, the report said.
The vehicle's operator reportedly told investigators Bell was the person in the surveillance video.
Further investigation showed he was driving without a valid license, the arrest report said.
Julius Whigham II is a criminal justice and public safety reporter for The Palm Beach Post. You can reach him at jwhigham@pbpost.com and follow him on Twitter at @JuliusWhigham. Help support our work: Subscribe today.
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: PBSO arrests Boynton man in March hit-and-run crash in Lake Worth
