The Knucklehead of the Day award

Goes to Mark David Ivey. The day after being involved in a fatal Hit & Run crash on I-95 in Dade county, this man called police asking if they had his car. He had abandoned it shortly after the accident early Sunday morning. After being told by a dispatcher where to go, Ivey showed up for his car but police investigators were waiting for him. A witness later picked Mr. Ivey out of a photo lineup.

How dumb can someone be? Well that's why I give out knucklehead awards and Mark David Ivey is today's knucklehead of the day.

Open Post- Don Surber, Political Teen, Basil's Blog, Mudville Gazette

A Fort Lauderdale man called police on Monday morning wanting to know if they had his car. He said he'd left it on the side of northbound Interstate 95 the day before.

They did. Police said it was the Dodge Intrepid that started a Sunday morning hit-and-run crash that killed a former Miami Northwestern High School basketball player and closed Interstate 95 for seven hours.

Mark David Ivey, 44, spoke with the Florida Highway Patrol about noon Monday, and a dispatcher encouraged him to stop by the station and pick up the car, said Lt. Pat Santangelo. Ivey arrived at 1011 NW 111 Ave. about 1:30 p.m., where traffic homicide investigators were waiting, Santangelo said.

Ivey admitted to sideswiping a Mitsubishi about 4 a.m. Sunday on I-95 near Northwest 135 Street in North Miami, Santangelo said. Charges are pending.

Witnesses said Ivey was driving erratically when he hit the Mitsubishi driven by LaQuinta "T.T." Brunson, 25, of Miami. She died on the scene.

Ivey fled north, driving on a flat tire. The rubber wore away, but Santangelo said he continued on the rim, creating a shower of sparks.

One witness followed the turquoise car until it broke down near Northwest 151st Street on the right shoulder. The witness approached the Dodge and spoke to Ivey, who left before troopers arrived.

"The witness said he had a strong odor of alcohol," Santangelo said.

That witness went to the station Monday and picked Ivey's picture out of a photo lineup.

According to Florida Department of Motor Vehicle records, Ivey has a clean driving record. Broward County court records say in 2004, he was sentenced to 18 months probation on charges of drug possession and operating an unsafe vehicle.

It's not uncommon for dispatchers to get calls from motorists looking for cars left on the roadway, Santangelo said.

"We literally get thousands of calls into that office a day," Santangelo said. "All different types of calls from 911 emergency to people looking for directions to people's who car has broken down to people looking for their cars."

But in this case, a rookie dispatcher recognized the car being described, a turquoise Dodge Intrepid, as the one involved in the crash that closed northbound I-95 and caused five more crashes involving 11 vehicles, Santangelo said.

"The dispatcher asked him the tag and, low and behold, it was the car that was in our impound lot," he said.

The rookie turned the call over to a more experienced dispatcher who "told the man that he was more than welcome to come and pick up his car," Santangelo said. "She gave him the address, not letting on that he might be the driver" they were looking for.