A Leesburg city commissioner has been found guilty in traffic court for causing a crash that killed a biker at the city’s Bike Fest celebration in Lake County.
Jason Van Cleave, who was following closely behind the accident, said Commissioner Jay Hurley turned from a center lane, trying to get into the event at Gator Harley Davidson on U.S. 441 and there was no way 46-year-old Steve Tuttle could avoid him as we was riding in the right lane.
"I let off the throttle, Mr. Tuttle didn’t, and the truck made a right turn right in front of him. So there was no time for Mr. Tuttle to react,” Van Cleave said.
“I basically saw him bounce off the side of the truck and go head first into the curb,” witness Michael Davis said.
Hurley testified he was in a truck and simply made a wide turn from the outside lane, but couldn’t remember if he used his blinker.
“Any average person can look at the photographs of the final placement of the truck, of where it sat, and know it did not come from that right lane that way,” Leesburg police Officer Christopher Parsons told Judge Terry Neal.
Hurley’s license will be suspended for six months and he will have to pay a $1,000 fine as the result of his guilty conviction for making an improper lane change.
"He did a wrong thing he needs to pay the consequences,” said Tuttle's mother Jeannie Lawrence.
The state attorney decided not to file criminal charges.