TAMPA, Fla. — The driver accused in a hit-and-run crash that left a U.S. Postal Service mail carrier dead will remain in jail.
On Friday, 56-year-old Christopher Prater appeared in court where he was denied bond for the Dec. 18 crash.
Judge Michael Hooi said the evidence supported Prater's charges of leaving the scene of a crash with death and driving with a suspended license in the crash that killed 69-year-old Paul Falica.
"There was some evidence today of disregard of safety of the community," the judge said in court. "What is also troubling is the nature of the offense and the attempts to throw law enforcement off in the investigation."
Detectives testified in court that Prater admitted to the crash in footage recorded on their body cameras.
Tampa police responded just before 3 p.m. Monday to the intersection of River Cove Street and North Mulberry Street. They arrived to find an overturned USPS mail delivery truck. Falica, who served the Sulphur Springs community for three decades as a mail carrier, was pronounced dead at the scene.
"The only thing I can say is everyone's going to miss Paul," Letter Carriers Branch 599 President Brian Oberst said. "Paul is one of those guys that, you know, if you worked with Paul, you knew who he was and he was a benefit to your life that day."
"The people in the community and the people he worked with were his local family," Oberst added.
The USPS expressed its condolences in a statement following Falica's death:
"The Postal Service is deeply saddened by the loss of our postal family member," the agency said. "Our condolences and thoughts go out to his family, friends, and co-workers."
Tampa police said an anonymous tip led them to Prater who was arrested after front-end damage on the car and evidence inside the vehicle connected him to the crash.