Florida man arrested in missing Lyft driver's car indicted on murder charge, faces extradition in NC
He was indicted on charges of first-degree homicide, grand theft motor vehicle, felon in possession of a firearm and evidence tampering in Hardee County, Florida, Tuesday, Wauchula Police Chief John Eason told Fox News Digital.
Authorities in Rutherford County, North Carolina, arrested him on Feb. 2 after they say he led law enforcement on a high-speed chase through three counties before crashing a stolen car.
FLORIDA MURDER SUSPECT ARRESTED IN MISSING LYFT DRIVER'S CAR AFTER NORTH CAROLINA POLICE CHASE
Gary Levin smiles on vacation in a 2020 photo shared to his Facebook page. (Gary Levin/Facebook)
ELDERLY FLORIDA LYFT DRIVER, PREVIOUSLY REPORTED MISSING, CONFIRMED DEAD
The car belonged to Levin, who vanished on Jan. 30. Authorities found his body in Okeechobee on Feb. 4, near where his phone last pinged.
His car was last spotted in Florida in Gainesville on Feb. 1, roughly 500 miles from Rutherford, where deputies arrested Flores in the vehicle.
Missing Palm Beach Gardens Lyft driver Gary Levin, left and center, was found dead after disappearing on Jan. 30. North Carolina police arrested murder suspect Matthew Scott Flores in his car on Thursday, Feb. 2, according to authorities and Levin's family. (Palm Beach Gardens Police, Wauchula Police)
Prosecutors there have charged Flores with fleeing arrest and driving while impaired, in addition to being a fugitive from justice on the Florida charges.
He was being held on $2 million bond and due in court for a hearing Wednesday.
Police say Matthew Flores was hospitalized after a high-speed chase spanning three counties in North Carolina Thursday. (Wauchula Police)
He has numerous other felony convictions in both Florida and North Carolina, records show.
According to the Asheville-based WLOS-TV, Flores' criminal past includes at least two other attempts to flee officers.
On Oct. 1, 2020, he rammed a Hendersonville officer with a vehicle and struck a police cruiser before fleeing into Polk County, according to the outlet. Police there stopped him with spike strips, and he fled on foot until a K-9 took him down.