Boat repair shop helped detectives track down Bartlett Lake hit-and-run suspect
MESA, Ariz. (KSAZ) - A valley man accused of leaving the scene of a boating accident that left one teen with life-threatening injuries is now behind bars.
Deputies say it was a detective who took it a step further and identified a boat repair shop which led to an arrest.
How, you might ask, would the detective be able to find the right shop?
If someone needs to repair a boat, there are only a handful of places in the valley you can go to. So when an accident happens, the repair shops are the first to know about it.
And that's how one local boat shop was able to help a detective put the puzzle pieces together.
The Maricopa County Sheriff's Office says the boat hit a jet ski that 15-year-old Alec Medina was driving, leaving him with life-threatening injuries.
"I had heard about the accident, we kind of did a little bit of research. I reached out to a friend of mine who's in the Coast Guard, he's a volunteer. He had brought me some information. Through information found via him as well as news stations, we just kind of started picking away at boats that would come and go," said Josh Turner.
Turner is the manager of Sun Valley Fiber Glass in Mesa. He repaired Becker's boat without knowing it at first.
"When this particular boat had come in, the owner of the boat has asked me to do the repairs for him. And he didn't really know how it had happened, but that his son could have been driving the vessel when it did occur," Turner said.
Turner was in contact with a detective working the case and as it turns out, the pictures Turner took of the boats repairs before and after is what helped the detective connect the dots.
"The detective was right on the money. He knew exactly what he was looking for," Turner said.
MCSO says the boat was turned in for repairs about a week after the incident.
"It didn't seem out of the ordinary. The owner of the boat, he's a really nice man, he's a great guy, I really feel bad for what him and his wife are going through. Ultimately it wasn't his fault," Turner said.
Court documents show Becker has denied being involved in the Aug. 5 boat crash that injured Medina.