Tampa man arrested in hit-and-run that killed postal worker had 15 license suspensions, records show

Tampa police on Tuesday arrested the driver who they say fled the scene of a hit-and-run crash that killed a U.S. Postal Service carrier a day earlier.

Christopher Eric Prater, 56, borrowed a car without permission and struck a Postal Service truck driven by Paul Falica, 69, who died at the scene of the crash in Sulphur Springs, police said.

Prater was driving without a valid license, and records show his license has been suspended 15 times.

The crash happened around 3 p.m. Monday at the intersection of North River Cove Street and North Mulberry Street, according to police. Witnesses reported seeing the driver of a dark-colored Mercedes sedan drive away from the scene after hitting the Postal Service truck, causing it to overturn. Police found Falica pinned by the toppled vehicle, according to an arrest affidavit.

Following up on an anonymous tip, police discovered the damaged Mercedes in the driveway of Prater’s home on the 8400 block of North 16th Street, about a half-mile away from the crash scene.

Detectives found Prater in the home. He told investigators his roommate had been driving the car but was no longer in the area.

The vehicle’s owner told police that he parked the Mercedes at the house a few days before the crash. He left the keys with Prater in case he needed to move the car but didn’t give him permission to drive it, police said.

When officers searched the car, they found fingerprints that matched those of Prater and a debit card with his name on it. Investigators said damage to the car’s front bumper was consistent with impact from the crash.

Police collected a piece of a bumper insert at the scene of the crash that matched some Mercedes Benz models, according to a news release from Tampa police.

Nearby video surveillance showed Prater entering the car, then later returning it with front bumper damage, according to police. Prater’s clothing in the video matched witness descriptions of what the driver was wearing at the time of the crash.

Prater’s son, Christopher Prater Jr., contacted the police after he overheard his father on the phone saying he hit someone and left, according to the arrest affidavit. Prater Jr. also identified the person in the surveillance footage as his father.

The senior Prater was booked into the Hillsborough County jail on Tuesday on charges of leaving the scene of a crash involving death and driving without a valid license.

During Prater’s first court appearance on Wednesday, Circuit Judge Jeffrey Rich ordered him to be held in jail without bond until at least Friday, when a hearing will be held on a motion by the Hillsborough State Attorney’s Office to keep him in custody until his case is resolved.

Records show Prater has a lengthy arrest history in Hillsborough dating back to 2001 and served time in state prison for grand theft, aggravated assault and resisting law enforcement with violence, among other crimes. He also has previous convictions for DUI and driving without a valid license in addition to the 15 license suspensions on his driving record, records show.

“I hope this swift arrest will provide a small sense of closure for the Falica family, as well as the extended family from the U.S. Postal Service, as they all continue to navigate this tragedy,” Tampa police Chief Lee Bercaw said in a news release Tuesday night.

Brian Obst, president of the National Association of Letter Carriers for the Tampa Bay area branch, said Falica was a “happy-go-lucky” guy who enjoyed doing his job and was well respected by his coworkers. Falica had been with the Postal Service for at least 30 years.

“I have to assume that it was a pretty horrific accident, to knock a vehicle over and kill somebody and for the other guy to still drive away,” Obst said.

“The people on his route knew him very well, so we were just shocked at this situation,” he said.