Authorities are looking for a motorist whose vehicle hit a bicyclist in Lake County and drove off.
- Man walking bicycle struck and killed in Lake County
- FHP: 1 driver stopped, but another car drove over him and left
- Troopers seek smaller, red passenger car with possible damage
The crash happened near the intersection of County Road 452 and Little Horse Drive in Lake County early Thursday night.
Troopers said 31-year-old Antwan Bailey of Umatilla was walking his bicycle in the center of the southbound lane when he was hit by a 2006 Hyundai SUV driven by a 41-year-old Sorrento woman.
That driver pulled over. But then a second motorist ran over Bailey and drove off, troopers said.
Investigators are searching for a smaller, red passenger car with possible damage to the front undercarriage. It was last seen traveling southbound on CR 452.
"We're going to find this vehicle based on a tip, because there’s not the typical type of damage we see from a pedestrian being hit by a vehicle," said Sgt. Kim Montes with Florida Highway Patrol. "The way we're going to find this vehicle is somebody knows a neighbor, somebody knows a friend that's talked about it. Somebody knows something firsthand," she said.
"We’ve had an epidemic of hit and runs. In 2016, Troop D, which is a Central Florida area, (we) worked 31 fatal hit and run crashes. That’s up 10 from the year before — that’s just fatal crashes. On average, the highway patrol works anywhere from 25 to 30 hit-and-runs a day in Central Florida," Montes said.
If you have any information on this latest case, call Crimeline at 1-800-423-TIPS or the Florida Highway Patrol at 407-737-2213.