Arrest made after horse dies in hit and run as couple ride home from Walmart | Weird

CHERRYVILLE, NC (WBTV / AP) - A hit-and-run driver killed a horse and injured its riders in a wreck near Cherryville on Sunday.

The collision happened as 24-year-old James Cody Burke and 22-year-old Carlee Jones were returning on horseback after shopping at a nearby Walmart.

They were headed to a barn where Jones boarded the 10-year-old Foundation Quarter horse named Leo.

The pair stopped to talk to a friend in a car when the accident happened.

Wanda Johnson says she heard a loud boom, went outside and found the pair with serious head injuries.

"I was trying to talk to the girl who was going in and out of consciousness," Johnson said.

Authorities arrested and charged a Bessemer City man in the incident Monday afternoon. They credit the community with leading them to the car involved in the wreck.

Timothy Hardin, 46, was charged with two felony counts of hit and run, a misdemeanor hit and run and driving with a revoked license, the NC Highway Patrol said.

Hardin is being held in the Gaston County Jail on a $20,000 bond. 

Highway Patrol Trooper Frank O'Dell said a couple was struck by a car while their horse was standing in the road as they talked to a friend.

Hardin sped away as the riders were thrown to the ground, and the horse was killed.  He told the highway patrol he thought he hit a deer.

Burke and Jones were initially taken to a hospital in Shelby and later transferred to Carolinas Medical Center in Charlotte.  Both were listed in fair condition on Monday.

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