Palm Beach County deputies arrested Eliseo Cabrera Alvarenga, 27, on Monday in connection with a July 2025 hit-and-run that critically injured Quincy Kellyn Montgomery, who was 21 at the time. The arrest came more than a year after the crash; investigators identified Alvarenga through DNA evidence, according to WPEC.
What Investigators Say Happened
The crash occurred just before midnight on July 3, 2025, near 827 Ridge Road and Flamingo Drive in Lantana, according to WPEC. Investigators said Montgomery was walking northbound in the travel lanes in a non-reflective shirt when a southbound 2020 Honda Civic struck him. The impact sent him onto the car and then 96 feet into a nearby front yard.
Montgomery suffered serious injuries. Investigators said the driver left without stopping to help. The Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office Vehicle Homicide Investigation Unit handled the case.
How DNA Evidence Led to an Arrest
Investigators located the Honda Civic and developed Alvarenga as a suspect using DNA evidence, WPEC reported. The evidence was returned on June 22, 2026, nearly a year after the crash. The State Attorney's Office authorized an arrest warrant charging Alvarenga with failure to stop or remain at a crash involving serious bodily injury.
What Earlier Hit-and-Run Reports Show
Earlier local reports described an increase in hit-and-run cases without arrests. The Palm Beach County State Attorney's Office reported a 25% rise over a recent two-month span, according to WPBF. In separate reporting by WPTV, Palm Beach County State Attorney Dave Aronberg said, “this year has seen around a 25% increase in our office,” adding that hit-and-run crashes remain an issue in the county with tragic consequences for victims and their families. These figures reflect those reports, not a current countywide measure.
WPBF has documented other unresolved cases fitting that pattern, including a pedestrian struck by an unknown vehicle near Tulane Drive and Military Trail, where the vehicle continued north and left the victim in the road, as reported by WPBF, and a family riding in a golf cart who was hit in Lake Clarke Shores on Christmas Eve, as noted by WPBF. State data cited by WPTV shows thousands of hit-and-run incidents occur each year statewide, many resulting in injuries or deaths. The Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles has reported that hit-and-run crashes in 2023 resulted in 271 fatalities and 871 serious bodily injuries statewide, with 159 of those deaths involving pedestrians and 47 involving bicyclists, according to Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles.
Palm Beach County Pedestrian Crashes
The Florida Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles' 2024 Florida Traffic Crash Facts report lists 162 pedestrian crashes in Palm Beach County in 2024, compared with 130 in 2023 and 172 in 2022. These countywide figures show a rise from 2023 to 2024, but are not specific to hit-and-run crashes.
The arrest followed months of investigation, but the available figures do not establish how many pedestrian hit-and-runs occurred in Palm Beach County. Investigators have not released further details about the court process ahead for Alvarenga.
