Investigation leads to arrest in hit-and-run death

Historic City News previously reported that 53-year-old Anastasia Island resident, Robert Dale Louk, had been struck by a passing white Toyota pick-up truck just before midnight on July 8, 2014, and left to die in the middle of SR-A1A. He succumbed to his injuries and died at Flagler Hospital in St Augustine the following morning.

Law enforcement officers with the St Johns County Sheriff’s Office and St. Augustine Beach Police Department responded to the scene of the hit-and-run crash. An immediate search was undertaken for a vehicle that matched the description provided by a witness. A few miles from the collision, a pickup truck was discovered.

The 24-year-old man believed to have been driving the vehicle, Oliver Michael Heckscher, whose last reported address is 249 Trade Wind Lane, refused to cooperate that night. Officers detained him while search warrants were obtained for the vehicle and to compel a blood sample. After serving the search warrant, the evidence was sent to the lab for analysis.

The evidence collected from the vehicle and the scene confirmed Heckscher as the driver. An arrest warrant was obtained charging Heckscher with leaving the scene of a crash involving a death.

At 8:30 p.m. Thursday evening, Heckscher turned himself in at the St Johns County Detention Facility. He was released two hours later after posting $20,000 bond.