Driver saw shoe on dark Charlotte road. What he did next led to an arrest.

A driver saw a shoe on a dark Charlotte road late Wednesday. What he did next made all the difference in helping police find a hit-and-run suspect.

The driver on Shopton Road West in southwest Charlotte had earlier been heading to a store when he saw a man walking on the side of the road, according to police.

The driver, whom police have not identified, spotted the shoe when he was returning from the store. On nearby Pilcher Drive, he also saw a parked 2006 Kia Sorento with lots of damage, police said.

He realized the man he’d seen earlier might have been hit by the car, so he immediately returned to the scene and found the victim lying in grass off the right side of the road.

Then the driver called 911.

The pedestrian, 49-year-old Michael James Denny, was pronounced dead at the scene, according to police.

Thanks to the driver who found Denny and called 911, police arrested 44-year-old Timothy Craig Medley of Charlotte and charged him with driving while impaired, felony death by vehicle and felony hit and run. Medley is free on $12,500 bail.

Police said Medley was driving north on Shopton Road West from South Tryon Street when Denny was hit while walking in the 16200 block. That stretch of Shopton Road West is not lit with overhead street lights and has no sidewalks on either side, according to police.

Police said they arrested Medley after they interviewed him and found him to be impaired.

“The witness in this case was instrumental to the quick apprehension of the suspect,” police said in a statement early Thursday. “Without his willingness to become involved, it is doubtful that the victim would have been located tonight and the suspect may have escaped justice.”

This story was originally published November 23, 2017 at 4:14 PM with the headline "Driver saw shoe on dark Charlotte road. What he did next led to an arrest.."