Driver In Fatal Hit-And-Run Arrested After TV Interview Held $10K

BOSTON, MA — The man accused of driving his car into a cross walk, hitting an 80-year-old retired teacher and then speeding off was arraigned today in Brighton District Court on charges related to motor vehicle homicide by negligent operation and leaving the scene of an accident after causing death.

Judge Myong Joun ordered Phocian Fitts, 23, of Brighton, held on $10,000 bail Thursday.

Assistant District Attorney Emily Hamrock of the DA’s Elders and Persons with Disabilities Unit had requested bail of $15,000.

During his arraignment, Fitts who is about 5'6 with dreads just past his shoulders stood quietly in a glass enclosure wearing a black and red shirt nodding as his lawyer told the court about his ups and downs. His attorney mentioned recent strides he'd made with his job, enrolling in community college and helping his sisters take care of his mother, who has mobility issues.

Fitts' young sisters sat in the back of the court room but did not say anything.

If Fitts posts bail he will have to wear a GPS bracelet and will not be permitted to drive. The current charges he faces are misdemeanor, according to the court prosecutor. But those charges may change said Hamrock.

Fitts was questioned in connection to the hit-and-run death of the retired teacher in Brighton Wednesday afternoon. According to court documents, when police first talked to him, he asked them "Was it cause I left?"

He was released by police without charges shortly after.

Then Fitts' interview with a local TV outlet hit the 10 p.m. news. What he told them that he knew he was about to hit someone - and a dash cam - lead to his arrest.

What happened?

Police said they got the call about a pedestrian hit in a crosswalk in Brighton around 12:50 p.m. Wednesday.

Witnesses and a dash cam pointed to a 2019 Jeep Cherokee registered to Fitts' mother. Police found the car in question, near the family home on Fidelis Way. Fitts' mother told police her son had just come in from driving it and had gone up to his room and was nervous because he "had hit something," according to the police report.

The Jeep had damage on the front passenger side fender and windshield.

Police took Fitts in for questioning, but let him go after an attorney called and told them to stop, according to documents.

That's when Fitts talked to Fox25.

“Right now I’m not worried about nothing man, like I said, I’m not a stone-cold killer, I didn’t do nothing on purpose,” Fitts told Boston 25 News in an interview that aired during their 10 p.m. broadcast.

Fitts said he was listening to music and driving a bit too quick before the crash, but that he wasn't drunk and doesn't do drugs.
"People hit and run people all the time," he said. "It just happened to be an unfortunate situation where I was driving."
Fitts said the light was green and he was honking the horn trying to get the man to move, before he hit the older man in the crosswalk. He said he would have had to swerve into a pole if he hadn't hit the older man and feared for his own life.
"So when it came down to it, man, accidents happen, man," he said.

Fitts then told Fox25 he was a positive member in the community and mentored young people.

"I’m a real gangster, you see what I’m saying?" Fitts told Boston 25. "I’m a real gangster, not in a bad way, I’m a gangster because I help out the community and I look out for the youth."

Who was the pedestrian?

Theodore J. Schwalb was listed in a Boston police report as the victim of the crash on Comm Avenue near Griggs Street between the B-Line and Brookline. Schwalb had just celebrated his 80th birthday on May 25. He was pronounced dead at 1:13 p.m after he was rushed to the hospital.

Who is Fitts?

Three years ago Fitts admitted to attacking a U.S. Postal Service worker after the postal employee kicked at his mother’s dog while carrying mail in the area. Fitts was on federal probation from that incident when he was arrested Wednesday.

But his attorney argued Fitts had been a model citizen since then.

Fitts was born and raised in Dorchester before he moved to Brighton when he was 12, his attorney told the court at his arraignment.

He does security work in the area and his attorney Patrick E. Sheehan argued he had roots in the community and wouldn't run.

Watch what Fitts told Fox25:

Previously:

80-Year-0ld Killed In Hit-And-Run, Police Looking For Information

Photo of Brighton District Court by Jenna Fisher/Patch