The scene started when an erratic driver wouldn’t stop.
Lt. Bill Nichols with the Polk County Sheriff’s Office said, “[The driver] was changing traffic in and out, she was speeding up, slowing down.”
On the same stretch of road, southbound on US 98, deputies say the 68-year-old victim was riding his bike with the flow of traffic.
Around 3:00 p.m., the driver hit the victim, killing him instantly.
“She then left the bicyclist, then in about 200 yards she struck another vehicle. Then, trying to get away from that driver, she then struck a second vehicle,” said Nichols.
Based on preliminary information, deputies say they believe the driver was impaired. In fact, they say they found numerous prescription pills in her purse in the car.
It turns out the driver, 54, of Lakeland has been charged with DUI before.
Impaired or not, resident Bryan Fall says, these roads are dangerous. “If you ain’t wearing something reflective or you ain’t got lights, you’re gonna end up getting hit.”
Fall’s family knows he rides the same route as the victim and they were worried Monday afternoon. “They rode by and seen it and they wanted to make sure it wasn’t me.”
Instead, it was the victim. When his wife, Sally, came to the crime scene, she crumpled to the ground with grief.
It is for families like the the victim’s that Fall wants drivers to start paying attention and brake for bicyclists.
The driver of one of the cars the suspect hit helped to detain her until deputies arrived.
The suspect is charged with attempting to leave the scene of a crash with death.
Vehicular homicide charges are pending the results of toxicology tests.
RIP – Lakeland DUI Lawyers
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