PETERSBURG, Fla. — St. Petersburg police are searching for a black Mazda sedan that investigators suspect was involved in a hit-and-run crash that severely injured a bicycle rider. Fox News 13 reports that the crash happened back on March 7, 2019. Despite the passage of time, law enforcement officers continue to pursue a suspect. Officers obtained […]
Bicycle hit and run
PETERSBURG, Fla. — St. Petersburg police are searching for a black Mazda sedan that investigators suspect was involved in a hit-and-run crash that severely injured a bicycle rider. Fox News 13 reports that the crash happened back on March 7, 2019. Despite the passage of time, law enforcement officers continue to pursue a suspect. Officers obtained surveillance video that could help police solve who was driving when the wanted vehicle hit the bike rider and took off. Police recently released that surveillance video to the media.
A bicycle rider attempting to cross the intersection of 26th Avenue South and 45th Street South never made it all the way across. Surveillance video dispersed to the media shows what transpired immediately before and just after the bike rider was hit. The video shows the bicyclist enter the intersection just as a Mazda CX-7 turned left in front of the rider. At that moment, the car and bike collided. The impact sent the bike rider sprawling onto the sidewalk. The rider took a tough fall. His legs were tangled in the bike as the car knocked the rear wheel out from beneath him and flipped him over. The driver of the CX-7 took off from the crash site.
The incident happened during the day while two witnesses were outside. One witness was washing the windows of her home when she reportedly heard the bike rider utter some words right before the car hit him. She saw the bike rider flying through the air out of the corner of her eye. Another witness jumped into her car and gave chase. She said she caught up to the male driver, but as she did so, the driver allegedly held a pistol out of the driver’s window, so she wisely backed off. The surveillance video capturing the accident comes from a camera on her home.
The injured bicyclist suffered five broken ribs and bruised knees. Fortunately, the victim is expected to recover fully. Anyone with information about this incident should inform St. Petersburg Police.
