Published On: Tue, May 10th, 2016

Boca Raton Man Arrested in Fatal Hit-And-Run

By CRA News Service

A 28-year-old Boca Raton man has been charged in the hit-and-run death of mixed martial arts fighter Jordan Parsons.

Dennis Wright was arrested after a six-day investigation, Delray Beach police officials said. An anonymous tip led to Wright’s arrest, police said. He was charged with leaving the scene of a crash causing death, tampering with evidence and driving with a suspended license.

Parsons, 25, died at Delray Medical Center three days after the crash.

Wright, who has a history of arrests for DUI, driving with a suspended license, disorderly intoxication, marijuana possession and assault on an officer or firefighter, was released from the Palm Beach County Jail on a $600 bond. Visit the Expungements website for valuable information and assistance in the process of achieving a cleaner legal slate.

Police also say Wright’s license has been suspended six times.

Investigators said they received a tip that Wright was at Buddha Sky Bar on East Atlantic Avenue hours before the May 1 crash.  He was driving his mother’s gray Range Rover south on Federal Highway shortly after midnight “between 100 and 120 miles per hour” when he struck Parsons, police said. Parsons was wearing headphones while crossing Federal Highway at Lindell Boulevard.

“Wright never stopped,” police spokeswoman Dani Moschella said. “Neither did his friends, driving behind him in their Mercedes, which followed the Range Rover as it continued southbound.”

An anonymous tipster passed on Wright’s name to detectives and they discovered that his mother owned a Range Rover.

“Wright made an effort to have the damaged Range Rover repaired at a local body shop, but the owner refused to do the work, so Wright rented a bay at a storage facility and hid the SUV,” Moschella said. Wright then rented a bay at a nearby storage and hid the Range Rover there, she added.

A 2009 Florida State University graduate, with a bachelor’s degree in business management, Wright said on his LinkedIn page that he said he is a partner in the West Palm Beach area South Beach Media and had been director of business development for Better Off Healthy, in Boca Raton.

Parsons was a member of the Boca Raton-based mixed martial arts team, The Blackzilians, and trained at Jaco Hybrid Training Center, 7561 N Federal Hwy.  Neil Melanson, Parsons’ grappling coach, told ESPN.com that Parsons was “a guy of great character, amazing work ethic, 100 percent committed to trying to be the best he could possibly be.”

Parsons’ funeral will be held on May 21 at Berrien Springs High School in western Michigan. To date, an online Go Fund Me page had raised more than $36,000 in donations toward his funeral costs.

Anyone with information about Wright’s whereabouts on the night of the crash is asked to contact Officer Ron Brown or Sgt. Jeffrey Rasor at 561-243-7800.

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