FHP: Bicyclist killed in hit & run crash in Clermont

LAKE COUNTY, Fla. — The Florida Highway Patrol is asking for help finding the driver who struck a man on a bike in Clermont Friday morning and left him on the road to die.

Troopers responded to U.S. Highway 27 just north of U.S. Highway 192 just before 5 a.m. for reports of a crash involving a bicyclist.

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According to FHP, the bike rider, identified only as a 35-year-old man from Lakeland, was headed southbound on U.S. 27 approaching U.S. 192 in a marked bicycle lane when the driver of an unidentified vehicle also traveling southbound veered into the bike lane and struck him.

Troopers say the bicyclist was thrown from the bike and the vehicle that hit him fled the scene.

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According to FHP, a witness told them they didn’t see the initial collision but saw the victim lying in the road and watched one or two other vehicles hit him and continue southbound on U.S. 27.

The bicyclist was pronounced dead at the scene.

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Troopers say tire markings on the road lead them to believe the vehicle that first hit the bicyclist was possibly a semi-truck.

FHP investigators are asking anyone with information on the crash to call them at (407) 737-2213 or CRIMELINE at (800) 423-8477. Tips called in to CRIMELINE can be left anonymously and may be eligible for a reward.

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