WATCH: Suspect Arrested in Houston Hit-and-Run Crash That Killed Gay Man

A Texas man was taken into custody in North Dakota in suspected connection with a hit-and-run incident earlier this month that left a 21-year-old gay man dead.

According to Towleroad, 28-year-old Matthew Alan Putterman was detained by authorities after making three attempts to flee to Canada. Once in custody, police found an unspecified amount of marijuana on him, as well as text messages on his cell phone linking him to a tragic January 8 hit-and-run incident in Houston that killed pedestrian Michael Alexander Hill, an openly gay man.

Hill was trying to cross the street at an intersection in the popular gay neighborhood of Montrose when Putterman allegedly ran a red light, struck and killed Hill, and then drove away from the scene. Hill was a server working at two Houston-area restaurants and a recent Houston transplant, having moved to Texas's biggest city only last year from his native South Carolina, KTRK reports.

Putterman is currently waiting extradition to Houston where he will be charged with failure to stop and render aid. The Houston Chronicle reports that as of Tuesday, Putterman was being held in Pembina County, North Dakota, where he maintains his innocence regarding Hill's death.

Watch the report from KTRK in the video below.