Driver accused of hit-and-run that "could have killed" teen cyclist caught by "fluke" as police track missing Apple AirPod that fell into vehicle during collision

Police in Florida have admitted it was "just a fluke" that they managed to arrest a driver suspected of a hit-and-run which left a 15-year-old cyclist unconscious with facial fractures and other injuries, one of the victim's AirPods falling into the vehicle during the crash and giving officers a handy GPS lead when the driver returned home with the Apple product lodged under a floor mat inside the car.

The New York Times reports that Peter Bradford Swing was arrested and charged with failing to stop at the scene of a crash with great bodily injury in relation to the incident that happened outside a petrol station in Jensen Beach at around 10.30pm on May 22.

Lochlan Nicol had been cycling to the shop when he was hit by a driver travelling in the opposite direction who made a sudden turn into the petrol station. He was knocked unconscious by the impact and suffered a broken nose, cheekbone and eye socket, his head having smashed through the rear passenger-side window.

The driver got out their vehicle and pulled the teenager out of the road, but then fled the scene.

 By pure chance, the teenager's AirPod had fallen out during the collision and was in the vehicle, hidden under a floor mat. When the victim's girlfriend arrived at the scene they found his phone, watch, wallet and AirPod case, but only with one AirPod inside.

The location service on his AirPod app suggested it was at an address four miles away and the family called the police.

"It was that earbud that provided geo-tracking right to the suspect's Jensen Beach home," Martin County Sheriff's Office confirmed, officers finding a silver Hyundai Santa Fe that matched CCTV images and had a smashed rear passenger-side window.

"It was just a fluke. There's no moral to the story. It was one of those things. It was a good break for us, a real good break," Sheriff William D. Snyder said. 

It has been reported Mr Swing told the police that he has served prison time previously for drug charges and panicked following the collision.

"It's honestly amazing," the victim's father Derek Nicol said. "People say it's karma. So maybe it's karma that it happened. It's just weird. He realised he's pretty lucky. It's started to sink in that he could have been killed."

Lochlan added: "He could have been hiding anywhere... and then it was like, 'Oh, my AirPod just tracked him straight down'."

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